The Parent Trap
by LuxahHeart
Summary: Fifteen years ago Kai and Ray split, each taking one of their children to live with them, only problem was Kai never told Ray he would be moving to Russia nor did they disclose to the other child they had a sibling. Kyra and Kain come together at a Beyblade camp hosted by the BBA, but have no clue who they are to each other or that they even share the same fathers. Yaoi, m-preg.
1. Chapter 1

**This is a collab fic between me and LowerLevelMisfit, including her OC Kyra and my OC Kain (Yes he's back, I just love him so much.)  
I recommend checking out Misfit's profile, for the fic The Daughter We Never Knew, it showcases her OC in a different light than what she will appear here and it's a really good fic and the sequel Devil In Me.**

 **Misfits other OC's include: Thomas, Matthew, Stella, Sven, Dimitri, and Victor. Whom you can also find in The Daughter We Never Knew.**

 **Gabe is back! HAHAHA I hate this son a a bitch.**

 **To split up the work load Misfit writes for Kai's POV and Kyra's POV, while I work on Ray and Kain's POV's.**

 **Can find the large cover photo on my Deviantart account Sketchesz.**

 **As always, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Kai's POV**

When I thought of how my life was going to go, being a father at seventeen was not part of that plan. I'm pretty sure I almost lost consciousness when Ray had told me he was pregnant with my child. I didn't even know if I wanted kids, but I knew I loved Ray and he wanted to keep this child, so I stuck by him.

It was May fifteenth when Ray gave birth to our daughter, Kyra. I never thought I was going to love someone as much as Ray but the minute I saw her I felt an instant bond. She was my mini me, gaining almost all of my physical traits other than Ray's hair color. Her and Ray instantly became my world, meaning I had to do my best to take care of them and give them the life they deserved. This caused me to take on my position as the heir of Hiwatari Enterprises shortly after Kyra's birth.

At first things had been going well. I'd work during the days, come home to Ray and relieve him of taking care of Kyra in the evening, then go to bed with him each night. We'd spend the weekends together, enjoying each other's company and watching our daughter grow and learn. That was until Voltaire finally passed, leaving me as the new CEO of Hiwatari Enterprises. This turned into working late, working weekends and much to my displeasure, barely seeing my family. To make things worse, after Kyra's first birthday Ray had found out he was pregnant again.

Not that I wasn't happy we were expanding our family, but things were already difficult as they were. I was barely home, often going days without seeing Kyra when she was awake. As much as I tried to be there for Ray during the pregnancy, work always got in the way. There had been many times where I'd spend entire nights in my study when I was supposed to be playing with Kyra reading emails instead, having her just bouncing with a toy in hand on my lap. It was only made worse when Kain was born June twelfth, a month after Kyra's second birthday.

I was twenty, the CEO of a major company and had two children. The stress was overwhelming and trying to balance work and family life was almost impossible. Ray and I had begun to fight more, him insisting I had to be home when I had to be at work to provide for the four of us. The two of us would argue in circles, often ending with him having to answer to one of our children's cries. It was obvious that neither of us were happy with the situation, but what could I really do when my attention was being pulled in so many directions?

* * *

 **Ray's POV**

"Kai… I… I can't do this anymore." I start, barely before he has the chance to take his shoes off as he steps into the house.

"Do what?" He raises an eyebrow at me, going back to toeing his shoes off by the door.

I can tell he's tired from working all day, having to take over his grandfather's business so young, being a parent so young has taken its toll. This wasn't what either of us wanted, what I wanted, but I'm tired too. I'm tired of having to parent our children by myself, tired of the late nights, the lack of intimacy with him. It's not his fault, it's not my fault, but I can't take it anymore. We've been fighting more, because we're both exhausted. We've tried fixing it, and it'll be good for a while again until it's not.

Neither of our children were planned, but we love them both dearly. Kyra had just turned two a month before Kain was born, and I was left here with a two-year old and infant at the age of nineteen and it's only been seven months since Kain was born. I was at my breaking point at this time, I had no other option, even though just thinking about it hurt.

"Ray, what's wrong?" Everything.

"We need to talk." I answer, heading to the kitchen so I can at least have him a bit calmer with a cup of coffee.

He doesn't say anything as he follows me down the hall, the children are asleep right now, thank Buddha, so it'll just be us. He sits at his usual spot at the table, the head on the left, watching me as I go about to retrieve the coffee I had made a few moments ago. As I take it back, his crimson eyes not once leaving my person as I do so and rest beside him to his right.

"I'm leaving." I blurt out, he had only taken a hold of the mug when I told him, and I can see the muscles in his hand tense.

"What?" He barks out.

"I can't keep doing this Kai, _we_ can't keep doing this." I start and bite the inside of my cheek to keep my voice from cracking.

"What are you talking about?" He demands, still not having taken a drink of his coffee.

"Us! I'm talking about us Kai! Your late nights at work leaving me with the kids all day, I understand we need you to work. But dammit Kai you never take a day off, you never just stay home. You don't pay attention to Kyra or Kain, sometimes you don't even recognize you have a son! I know life hasn't been easy, but dammit Kai I need you and you're not here!" I snap, but there are no tears that come as I'm more angry than I am sad.

"You want me to just not work? I have to, if you haven't noticed that's what keeps a roof over our heads. I can't take off work just like that, we've been over this!"

"I know we have, we've been over it so many times I'm tired. I'm so tired of begging you Kai, begging to keep you here and spend time with us. You don't listen, sometimes you do but then it's like you forget." I bite back, now we're both shouting which will cause the kids to wake up.

"There's nothing I can do to change that Ray, it's not entirely my fault we have two kids." He sneers, and that just causes me to snap further.

"Fuck you Hiwatari! I didn't ask for this either, maybe if you'd wrap it for once or something we wouldn't be in this mess. I know we love our children, and I don't regret them but quit hanging it over my head!" I slam my fist on the table and it knocks the mug over but we both ignore the spill on the table.

"What do you want me to do then? Huh?! Cus right now there doesn't seem to be a whole lot that I can do that can make you happy, I've already done all I can."

"I just want you here! It doesn't matter now, I'm leaving. I'm done trying, I'm done trying to get you to be a part of this family." I breathe out a bit easier, he goes quiet again for a moment.

"You're going to leave, take my children away by yourself? How does that make any sense if you're complaining about being alone, where will you even go?"

"I'm only taking Kain, Kyra will stay with you for a while and we'll switch every now and then." I don't need to bring up the fact that Kyra is his favorite, that he hardly knows Kain even exists, he knows this as I've had multiple arguments with him over it. He goes quiet again, so I speak up once more.

"I'll be staying with Max, until I get everything else sorted out. I don't think we should involve the courts or anything, we're both responsible enough to make sure we stick to this. I can trust you to do that, right?" He nods at my words, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes are burning with anger.

"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" His face softens, and now we're in stage two of our argument, where he begs me to stay.

"Yes." Before, it would always have been no. I'm not changing my mind again, I've done it for two years now and I just can't take it anymore.

"Alright…" He sighs out, and I relax a bit since it's done. We're done.

"I'll be leaving in three days." I push myself away from the table and he nods, but now he won't look at me.

I want to tell him that I'm sorry, but then again, I don't really think that I am. It feels like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders, even if my heart is breaking. I love him, I'll always love him, but we can't keep doing this. It hurts more to love him than to let him go, the only connection we'll have is our children, a testament of the love we had. As I start out of the kitchen Kain starts to cry, it's past midnight and I'm already exhausted but I go to him anyways, but what else is new?

Three days came and went so quickly I don't even think I had time to blink, during those three days I made sure to have everything Kain and I would need. I spent all the time I could with Kyra, even though I would see her that coming weekend while Kai had Kain. When that weekend came around, he didn't take Kain though and worked which left me with the kids at Max's, on top of his own infant twins Matthew and Stella. It was a hectic weekend, when Kai came around to pick Kyra up we fought again.

It went like that for about a month, I got a job as a dishwasher so now at least I had some money to my name instead of relying on the child support money Kai had given me, most of that went on the things Kain needed anyways. More months rolled on, my weekends with Kyra became less and less until the eighth month since we split did I not see her at all.

I tried calling but got no answer, I went over to his house and they weren't there. The next month he came back but didn't offer an excuse as to why they were gone, so I kept Kyra with me for that month, of course he didn't take Kain once. A year eventually rolled around, and they moved, without telling me or giving me any kind of warning. I don't know where it was they moved to, and without having gone through the courts I lost my chance of seeing my daughter grow up.

I cried for days, holding her pictures to my chest at night. It was like he ripped a part of me away by doing that, I don't know if he did it on purpose or if he had to, but I still hated him for it. As the years rolled on I wrote letters to her, so many letters in hopes one would find her but they all got sent back to me. I've kept each one of them in a little box, eventually I put her pictures in that box. I didn't want to forget her, I never would, but I didn't want Kain to know about them. It was easier that way, and as he got older I told him he had a mother and he had her last name.

He's so much like me, but at the flip of a switch he's like Kai. He looks like him so much, pale skin and crimson eyes. His hair color is mine but with slate highlights, he's taller than me even at the age of fifteen. He's a wild card, I can't keep him still or focused since he's learned he's part neko-jin. Sometimes I wonder if Kai ever told Kyra if she was, without growing up around me her abilities aren't going to be as strong as they should be.

I didn't think it would happen, not in a million years, but I found someone new. He was Kain's doctor, having been in and out of the emergency room since he was seven I got to know this man, Gabriel, quite well. We went out for coffee and just clicked, he's no Kai in the looks department but he is handsome. Pale skin, blonde hair and dull green eyes and perfect teeth. He's kind and open, another un-Kai trait. Kain didn't like the idea of me dating, he was ten at the time, and he tried to punch Gabriel, but I stepped in and he broke my nose which caused my sense of smell to dull. I punched him back and grounded him for a year, though he didn't seem to care.

I've given Kain Driger and he is a strong and fast blader, always training with the other Bladebreakers kids. Thomas, who is Tyson and Hilary's son, is a year younger than Kain. Matthew and Stella who are Max's twins, the same age as Kain. Victor, who is Kenny and Emily's son, is two years younger than Kain. They all make up the new Bladebreakers, with Tyson as their coach and Kain and Matt as co-captains, the result of the two not being able to stop arguing over who should get the spot.

Every year since Victor turned ten they go to a training camp together, today I said goodbye to my son as he drove off with Tyson and the others. I wouldn't be seeing him for about two months, and even though I've been doing this for three years it still hurts to watch him go. I'm hardly ever fully alone since it's just been the two of us, but now I have Gabe with me and he's taking me out for a little vacation. We've been together for five years, so I can only imagine what it is he's planning. I already know my answer, I have to give up loving Kai. It's for the better, I'll never see him again anyways, or my daughter.

* * *

 **Kai's POV**

After Ray and I had split I tried to be as civil as I could, keeping up with the weekends where Ray would have Kyra. I never offered to take Kain, mostly due to the fact that I had almost no bond with him. Although he was my son, he felt almost like a stranger to me, so I felt it was best to leave him with Ray, taking the weekend to try and finish projects so I could spend my weeks with Kyra. Only the projects continued to pile up.

Kyra was constantly with a nanny and it was obvious that it was affecting her negatively. I'd come home to hear her crying in her room, only calming down when I came to sit with her. My current life style wasn't working for either of us and I needed to make a change, but I didn't know what.

As the months went on it was becoming evident that living in Japan and operating a company that had its main headquarters in Russia was more problematic than I thought. I wasn't able to come home to Kyra as often as I wanted, I was missing weekends to drop her off with Ray and I barely slept from the time difference between the two offices. It was then that I decided to go on a month-long trip to Russian to try and see if I could fix things. I took Kyra along, forgetting to tell Ray that we would be missing the whole month of visits.

Being in Russia was much simpler for us. Tala had offered to take Kyra during the days, allowing her to socialize with someone I considered family while also getting to play with Dimitri, Tala and Bryan's son who was a few months younger than her. Getting work done and things communicated to others in the company was easier, making it so I could come home at the end of the day and still have the energy to spend time with my daughter before she went to sleep. I'd hoped that this visit would make things easier for when we went back to Japan, but things just crashed and burned the minute we got back.

Things had started to pick up at work again and worst of all, Ray decided to keep Kyra with him for the rest of the month after I'd dropped her off for her weekend visit with him. With work still being hectic and my daughter gone, I was stressed beyond belief, beginning to cope with cigarettes and whisky on a nightly basis. I had been going over the idea of moving to Russia, but it didn't become necessary for me to go until one night when I'd come home, finding Kyra still awake in her bed.

She was only three, but she was intelligent, waiting till she knew I was home, so she could get my attention.

I peered into her room, seeing her sitting up and looking back at me with her normal serious expression on her face. I walked in, sitting down and looking at her with a puzzled look on my face.

"What are you still doing up?" I asked, smoothing down her messy black locks.

"You said you'd be home to play." She glared, looking me straight in the eyes. Even though she was three, my daughter had the signature Kai Hiwatari glare down pat.

"I know, I'm sorry baby. I got held up at work again." I sighed. I always made promises to be there for her, often failing at them before the day was even over. I felt like a terrible father to her.

"I miss you daddy. Why can't you be home?" She pouted, coming over to curl herself up on my lap.

I frowned, running my fingers through her long tresses. All my daughter wanted was my attention and I kept neglecting her, choosing to work instead of being there for her. It was so much easier to keep this job while still being there for her in Russia, leading me to decide to finally move.

I guess in the midst of it all I had forgotten to tell Ray and by the time I remembered, it had been five years and Kyra was eight, Kain would've been six and I just assumed that if I even thought about contacting him that he'd demand me to bring Kyra back, never letting me see her again. She was all I had left after losing the love of my life, I couldn't lose her too.

Moving was the best thing I could've done for us. I worked during the day, came home to her at night and spent weekends showing her around Russia with Tala, Bryan and Dimitri. I still felt incomplete, not having my physical needs met from the absence of a lover, which led to a long list of men joining me in bed after my daughter fell asleep, leaving before she woke up the next morning. I wasn't proud of it, but it was all I could do to get over the feelings of missing Ray. I knew I wasn't going to love anyone else the way I loved him, so why even bother getting into another relationship?

As the years went on Kyra went from being a serious and strong willed young child to a sarcastic and sassy teenager, giving teenage Kai a run for his money. She was practically a mini adult at thirteen, but we still remained close as she grew older. I had ended up giving her Dranzer, who she wielded with passion and fury. I saw so much of myself in her that it was hard to believe she was also the product of Ray sometimes. The only way I could really tell was how cocky she would get after matches and the way she cared for her friends as he did. Over the years she'd become close with Dimitri, as well as Spencer's son, Sven, the three of them reforming the Blitzkreig Boys, only renaming it to just Blitzkreig.

At ages sixteen and seventeen, Kyra was getting too smart and rebellious for her own good. It started on Dimitri's sixteenth birthday after Tala and Bryan had bought him a brand-new Range Rover. Kyra, Dimitri and Sven had thought it would be a great idea to take it off-roading, ending up crashing it into Lake Balkai. Lucky for them the lake wasn't frozen over and they were able to swim to safety, but Bryan was pissed, cursing out Dimitri in Russian the entire drive home.

After grounding her for that I thought it would be the last I'd have to scold her for, till she caught on to the fact I was bringing different men over. I didn't realize she knew till one night I let one guy out early, coming back into the kitchen to get a drink to find her sitting at the breakfast bar with her fingers laced together, looking at me with a smirk.

"So, that's what, the fifth guy this week?" She accused.

"Kyra, this isn't something we need to discuss." I sighed, pouring myself a glass of whisky on the rocks.

"I think it is when I also live here and maybe don't want my dad sleeping with some randoms. I mean, isn't it kind of weird you never got serious with anyone after you were with my other father?" She asked.

This hadn't been the first time she brought Ray up. As a child she'd mentioned him more, continuously asking when she'd see Papa again after we moved to Russia. But as she grew up she forgot about him more and more, only really referring to him as my ex and her other father and questioning why I never pursued anyone since.  
"I haven't ever wanted to. Don't you have other things to be doing that don't involve pestering what I do in my free time?" I asked, an annoyed tone to my voice.  
"You mean asking about the guys you sleep with? No, not really. But I do need you to look at this." She smirked, pushing a piece of paper over to me.

It was a permission slip for a Beyblading camp in Japan, ran by the BBA for any professional bladers looking to improve their skills.  
"Dimitri and Sven are going so I want to go as well. It's for two months after school lets out. Gives you plenty of time to bring a slew of male suitors over." She grinned.

"If I say yes will you stop talking about that?" I sighed, running my fingers through my bangs.

"Most likely, yes." She responded.

I filled it out, writing a cheque and passing it back to her. Aside from wanting a bit of a break from the whirlwind that was having a teenage daughter, I also wanted her to become a better blader and have a shot at the championship title as I had.

"Thanks. I'm going to start packing while you have fun with your after-sex whisky." She laughed, starting to walk out of the kitchen.

"You lied about not talking about that anymore, didn't you?" I groaned.

"Bingo!" She answered, taking off up the stairs of our Russian mansion.

Seeing her off was a hard day. Although we'd been pushing each other's buttons lately, this was going to be the longest we'd been apart since she was three years old. We rarely got affectionate, but we embraced, her giving a tight squeeze before she boarded the plane with her friends, promising she'd try and call me a few times a week. Now what was I going to do for two months while kid free?


	2. Chapter 2

**Kain's POV**

After having said my goodbyes to my dad I followed the rest of my team into Tyson's mini-van, having to use it fit us all inside it. Thomas sat up front with his dad, where Matthew and I took the two captains chairs in the middle with Stella and Victor in the very back. Thomas and Tyson chatted all the way up to the mountainside where the camp was situated, even though I've been going here for three years I still get excited every time.

"Hey." Matt leans over towards me, bridging the space of the gap between us.

"Yeah?" I whisper back, meeting his bright blue eyes with my crimson ones.

"You brought the stuff, right?" He grins at me mischievously, and I return my own with a pointed fang sticking over my lower lip.

"But of course, have I ever let you down before?" I whisper back and he just nods, no one else can hear us because they're not paying attention. The 'stuff' he is referring to is alcohol and cigarettes, we're underaged but that hasn't stopped us yet.

Stella, Matthew's older twin sister is talking about attack rings with Victor. Him being the son of the one and only Kenny has dubbed him our new 'Chief', and we go to him when we need to up our blades. Before I forget I lean back, pulling Driger from my pocket and turning to face Victor.

"Hey Chief, can you switch Driger's attack ring before we get there? It cracked the other day in a battle with Matt." I hand it to him as he holds out his hand, shifting his rectangular glasses over his eyes and ginger hair.

"Sure Kain." He smiles at me and I nod while turning back into my seat, enjoying the rest of the ride.

For the most part I try to ignore the conversations around me, being part neko-jin causes the others to sound louder than what they are, specially in such a small enclosure. I close my eyes, resting into the back of my chair and cross my arms over my chest. Tyson mumbles something under his breath about how it's been a while since he's seen that pose, but I don't bother asking him what he means since he's always rambling about something that hardly makes sense.

Thomas is sometimes no different, but he is a bit more organized than his father, taking after his mother Hilary. He has Hilary's hair color but Tyson's eyes, and he's pretty short compared to me and Matt. Tyson and Hilary are old friends of my fathers when he bladed with them, having Thomas when I was one. Matthew and Stella are Max's twins, they were born a few months after me and we grew up with each other like brothers and sisters. Matthew looks like Max, but he has shaggy brunette hair and not blonde. His eyes though put Max's to shame, something I always found attractive about him. He's the tallest out of us all at six feet, where I'm five-eight.

We've dated on and off since turning fourteen, but it's never stuck since he flirts way too much with other people. We're more comfortable being friends and teammates than anything, but that doesn't really stop us from enjoying the others company when the want calls for it. We tried to keep our relationship a secret when we first started going out, until my dad walked in on us one time. He became so flustered he shut the door apologizing before slamming it back open, where we both got the scolding of our lives by both our dads that night.

Stella is a bit of both their mother and Max, but I'm only assuming since I've never met the woman and neither have the twins, kind of like my own mother I suppose. Stella has the blonde hair that she styles in a pixie cut, but her eyes are a beautiful violet with freckles along her nose and cheeks. I see her more as a younger sister than anything, plus she's not interested in guys in the slightest, but I don't blame her. Being around us, all the time probably put a damper on that ever happening, and I'm surprised I'm still attracted to guys at all even.

Victor is the youngest of us all, having just turned thirteen, he's also the shortest with ginger hair and green eyes. He's Kenny and Emily's son and he's like a perfect mix of them in looks and brains, which is why he's our new Chief. We all didn't start going to the camp until he turned ten, so we've only been going for three years.

Then there's me. I look nothing like my father. The only things I've inherited from him is his hair color with natural slate highlights running through it, and his eye shape. I keep it styled in a sort of spiky fashion, where the back of it reaches the nape of my neck. My ears are pointed like his where I have my left pierced in the lobe, side and cartilage. I also have fangs, like the good little half neko-jin I am. My skin is paler than his, so I must be a mix of Asian and western, but I've never met my mother he claims is out there somewhere. My eyes are crimson in color, which people find very attractive. I'm pretty lean but I do have a good amount of muscle on me from training all the time, which also gets me attention. I don't crave the attention though, it just comes with being the son of a famous blader and being co-captain of the reborn team.

I must have fallen asleep on the ride up, getting punched in the arm as my wake-up call when we arrived jolted me right out of the chair. Matt just snickers at me and I glare at him, I can be playful when I want to be but damn that hurt.

"C'mon slow poke!" He called out as he climbed out of the van, letting Victor and Stella shuffle out on his side since I was still fumbling with the seat belt.

"Whatever wise guy." I growl out, finally unhooking the blasted belt and jumping out of the van.

"Alright guys, I have to go meet up with Hiro and Brooklyn now you all know the drill by now." Tyson says as he places his hands on his hips, smiling wide at us all as we come around the front of the van.

We all just nod to him and he waves at us as he walks off, taking in the smell of the fresh mountain air I breath in deeply and let it out. I love this place, I feel so more at home in the open wilderness like this, being part cat and all.

"Our cabins are the same as always, everyone get your bags and meet back at the front once you settle in." Matt starts taking in the reigns, commanding everyone as he towers over us all.

We all nod to him and head for the back of the van following Thomas, he lifts the hatch up and starts passing out our bags to us. Once everyone has their own bag the boys head off to the right of the camp, while Stella goes to the left. Even though I've been here so many times I still look around like it's the first time, the main campsite is enclosed by a brown rock wall that separates it from the parking lot. Stepping through the opening of the wall the main building stands in front of us, it's huge and doubles as the dining hall and rec room. There's a front porch that sticks out, with an overhang that only covers out the first part where two sides of the porch stick out on each side where they're not covered.

Going around the building's right side, passing through the crowds of other teams and bladers, the rock wall opens again right before the cabins. It's almost like a divider for the grounds, the front is all about space where you can relax or battle under the trees while the back is left for the sleeping quarters.

We find our normal cabins, they're nothing special or impressive. It's all wood, inside and out, but they're maintained well thanks to the BBA. Thomas and Victor step up the stairs to their cabin, which is on the left of Matt's and mine. Each cabin has a small front porch, two windows by the doors with wooden shutters that are open. Like the main building there's an overhang over the porch, with wooden beams that hold it up.

"See you guys in a minute!" Thomas waves at us before slipping into his cabin, Victor following behind him with his own little wave and sheepish grin.

Matt waves back before pushing the door open for our cabin, stepping inside as I follow him. As I said before, the cabins are nothing impressive. It's four walls a roof and floor, all wood. Across from the door are two beds on each side, the feet of the bed face the door. A window sits above each bed, where we can see out back past the camp site at the waterfall, I picked this cabin the first time just for that view. Between the beds is a single eight drawer dresser, on each wall by the feet of the bed sits a wooden shelf with hooks for other odds and ends of things.

As always Matt takes the bed on the right while I take the one on the left, dumping our bags down on the mattress at the same time. We've fallen in step with each other over the years, growing up and then being captains of the team, it was essential we did. I rummaged through my bag, pulling out the bottle of vodka from it and stuffing it under my bed at the far back. My cigarettes go in my right back pocket, while my phone sits in my left. Quietly we unpack the rest of our things, dividing four drawers for each of our clothes and using the shelves on our sides of the room for our other things.

"Ready?" Matt asks, having fixed his hair up a bit where his bangs are a bit more slicked back.

"I'm gonna have one of these first, wanna join me?" I offer a sly grin, holding up the cigarette between my fingers.

"Nah, just don't take too long and make sure to put some cologne on when you're done." He says, leaving the room and shutting the door behind him.

I light it up with my lighter, stuffing that into my right front pocket and sit on my bed. I don't know why but I've been a nervous wreck these past few weeks, I've become more temperamental and nothing seems to be helping. Though of course it doesn't help that my father is dating my doctor of all things, it's been five years, but I still haven't gotten used to it. He's my dads age and a nice guy, but there's just something off about him to me and I can't put my finger on it. Dad of course is just too blind to see it though, he puts the guy on a pedestal and it irks me.

I draw in a deep breath and inhale the smoke, letting it out slowly trying to relax. My life isn't all that bad I suppose, I have a good group of friends and we're a good team, having won regional and national championships. One would think Thomas would be the champion, being the son of the world champion three years running and all, but no. It's me, I'm the one who picks the team up, I win all the title battles and have never lost a battle in my life, but we're a team and my accomplishments are only because of them. I don't boast about being the champ, it's my team that are the champions not just me.

I don't know if we're ready for a worlds tournament yet though, since Victor is still so young, and our parents don't like the idea of us running around the world like they did at their age. Hypocrites. For now, I'm content being here though, I've never traveled and even though my team is self-sufficient I don't want to have to baby anyone when I don't need to.

Finishing my cigarette, I toss the burnt-out end into the trash bin by the corner of the door, spraying myself with my cologne from the shelf before stepping out. Already I can hear the noise from across the camp site from the front, while other stragglers are leaving or entering their cabins around me as I jump the three steps of the stairs. I can hear my team even though they're not by me and follow their voices till I'm standing right behind them, they're so engrossed in conversation they don't know I'm here.

"Whoa!" Matt shouts, jumping about two feet into the air after I jabbed him in the side with a finger.

"Oh, hey Kain!" Thomas smiles, having just noticed me.

"Dammit, don't do that!" Matt scorns at me, his blue eyes lit with a fire at me and I smirk at him.

"That's what you get for punching me earlier." The others laugh at us, used to our teasing and flirting with each other this way.

"IF I COULD HAVE EVERYONE'S ATTENTION!" Hiro, Thomas's uncle and Tyson's older brother calls through the mega phone standing on one side of the uncovered portion of the porch.

My ears ring from the loudness of it, one thing I hate about this place is that damn mega phone. Everyone goes quiet and we shuffle with the rest of the crowd closer to the front of the main building, having come out from our spot under the tree on the right of the building.

"GREAT, GLAD TO SEE I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION NOW." Oh god, quit using that Hiro!

"I'd like to thank everyone for coming, for those who know the drills I expect you all to help those who maybe new to this place. In a moment the doors will open, teams are to go first and sign in by their captains at the desks at the front before sitting in the cafeteria. Those who do not belong to a team, stay behind and Tyson will be handing out your papers to you." He pauses and I'm thankful he's not using the mega-phone any longer.

"Once those papers are filled out, as you come up hand them to Brooklyn, the gentleman on my left." He motions to Brooklyn standing on the other side of the uncovered porch, he waves at everyone and smiles with a tilt of his head. Strange guy, I can never read him.

"Alright, teams first!" Tyson calls from his spot at the top of the stairs, there's three that lead up to him.

Some teams start to shuffle through the crowd of about one hundred bladers, their captains leading the way. I recognize some teams from tournaments, all having been beaten by my own team at one point or another. I follow Matt and the others up to the stairs when something catches my sights, long raven hair and beautiful long legs, she's maybe an inch or two shorter than I am.

I freeze in my spot to watch her walk with her team of two boys, one has flaming red hair with lavender eyes, he's tall and pale. The other boy towers over both of them, with blonde hair and dark blue eyes. I can only see the back of the girl as she leads them through the crowd, two teams away from my own.

"Hey, are you coming?!" Matt calls to me, and I nod quickly at him coming out of my daze as the girl disappears behind the doors of the main building.

I rush up to meet them, all having paused at the foot of the stairs to wait for me. I don't bother saying anything as they all turned back from me, finishing the ascent up the stairs and into the main building. It's crowded already, like always, with teams lined up in two rows at the two sign-in desks. There are benches that sit along the wall where the door sits, with another bench on each side of the adjoining wall. The walls are covered with Beyblading posters and rules and guidelines for being here, most of them Matt and I have ignored since coming here.

The room is slightly split up, with two walls in the center that divide the space of the bathrooms, boys on the right and girls on the left. The sign-in desks sit against these walls, where other BBA members sit behind the desks accepting the filled-out forms. The walls create a walkway of sorts which leads us into the dining area of the building, where tables and chairs are already set up and starting to fill as the teams who finished signing in take their places, by now I've lost sight of the girl again through the crowd.

I make sure to follow my team up to the sign-in desks, Matt fills it out and hands it back and we follow him into the dinning area quietly. My eyes are more focused on finding the girl again, but amongst the sea of people and different colored hair it's harder to do than I had imagined. On each side of the dinning area is a kitchen, where some bladers are already getting food from the open window.

"I'm gonna grab something to eat, be back in a minute!" Thomas says, and he is off before anyone of us can say anything to him as we sit down at our normal table by the kitchen on the left.

"Hey, are you doing alright Kain?" Stella asks me, her voice filled with concern as she sits on my left. Her normal spot, as Victor sits on her other side.

"Yeah." I nod, but I don't look at her as I'm still trying to scan the room full of people. Being at the head of the table has its perks, but sitting makes it harder to actually see over the heads.

"You sure?" Matt on my right asks, his normal spot with Thomas coming up to sit beside him on his other side.

"Yeah, just saw… THERE SHE IS!" I shout and jump, my teammates faces all drop and Victor falls out of his chair.

"Who?!" Stella's violet eyes go wide and her head swivels around to find who it is I found.

"Be right back." I say hurriedly, keeping my eyes locked on the raven hair I managed to spot across the dining hall.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Thomas calls but I ignore him, pushing past a few other bladers as the dining hall is becoming more crowded with the singles now filing in.

I finally make it over to my destination to her table, she's deep in conversation in a different language with her two teammates who sit around their four-seater table. I slip down into the one beside her, across from the tall burly blonde. They all stop abruptly and their eyes lock onto me, I offer a smile and notice her eyes are crimson like mine.

"Can we help you?" The red-head asks me, while the girl is eyeing me with a scowl.

"Hi, I'm Kain." I hold my hand out to her and she looks a bit sick at my gesture.

"That's nice, but why should I care?" She sneers at me.

"Just wanted to say hi, I haven't seen you here before and wanted to see how you liked the place. I've been coming here for three years now, my teammates dad is one of the coaches, and his uncle was the one with the mega-phone earlier."

"And I care why?" She responds, damn she's hard to talk to.

"Just telling you." I shrug, pulling my hand back since it's clear she's not going to shake it. "Can I get your names at least?"

They all shift their eyes at one another before they all sigh out; the blonde speaks first so I look to him as he's sitting across fro me.

"I'm Sven." I nod and smile to him, he seems a bit friendlier than the other two.

"I'm Dimitri." The red-head to my right says, he's rather good looking to but it's been a while since I've been with a girl.

"Nice to meet you." I nod to him and smile, a fang slips but they don't seem to care.

"Kyra." The girl sighs out and rolls her eyes.

"It's a pleasure to meet you guys, if you ever need anything let me know since I've been coming here so long."

"Thanks, we appreciate it." Sven responds.

"Kain! Get your ass over here!" Matt calls me from across the hall and I drop my head, damn him.

"Well, I'll see you guys later." I stand and wave at them, Sven is the only one who acknowledges me as I leave with a nod of the head. With my back turned they start speaking their weird language again, so I head for my table unable to eavesdrop on them.

"What was that all about dude?" Thomas asks, engulfing his burger.

"Saw a cute girl." I shrug.

"Oh, her? That's my new roommate." Stella pops in, having been watching me from where I came from.

"So, is she always that nice?" I reply a bit sarcastically.

"Seemed so, didn't talk much." She shakes her head a bit.

With a defeated sigh I rest back down into my chair, as the rest of the bladers enter along with the three coaches who run the place. Luckily, we're inside so Hiro won't use the mega-phone again.

"Alright, it's great to see everyone settled. For the newcomers, our first day here is a free day, as is all weekends. You may explore the mountain ranges, but always make sure you sign out at one of the front desks and sign back in. There are paths that are marked that are safe to travel, while the ones that aren't are marked as well. We ask that you head these warnings and don't use the unsafe trails." Hiro starts, and the dining room is completely silent.

"Under NO circumstances are boys and girls to go into either room, even if you have a girl on your team. No boys in the girl's restrooms and vice versa, if you are caught being with the opposite gender in either of these rooms you will be sent home immediately. We're here to train and blade, not mingle and do other things. Those who are new, you all have maps of the grounds to help you." I suppress a snicker, remembering all the times Matt and I have gotten it on in our room the past two years of coming here.

"Breakfast starts at seven and ends at nine. Lunch is held from twelve to two, and dinner is from seven till nine. Lights out is at eleven, and training begins at ten after breakfast with it resuming after lunch with a two-hour interval for free time." He finishes his speech and then starts off to the closest kitchen he can reach, Tyson and Brooklyn following behind him.

"Free day tomorrow, what should we do?" Thomas pipes in, as the rest of the dining hall fills with chatter that I have to push past to hear my own team.

"I have to finish preparing Driger and Draciel." Victor pipes in, Draciel belongs to Max while Stella has her own blade.

"I'm just going to sleep, the ride up here really got to me." Stella says and with that she yawns and excuses herself from the table, telling us all goodnight.

"Probably go on a hike or climb the waterfall again." I offer, and the others shake their heads at me.

"You do that all the time." Thomas whines at me.

"So? I like doing it." I shrug.

"Alright, what do you want to do Matt?" Thomas turns to his other captain, his eyes shining with hope that Matt has a better plan for our free day.

"I might sleep in like Stella, dad was a bit overly excited before we left." Matt sighs out and the hope in Thomas's eyes dies away.

"Man, you're all no fun." He pouts, looking much like his father when I've seen him pout to his wife. "I guess I'll hang around and check out the new competition then." He grumbles.

After Thomas and Victor left the dining hall, most of the other bladers followed suit. I forgotten to eat anything before I headed back to my cabin with Matt, both of us opting out of taking a shower since we knew it would be cramped on the first night. We made that mistake the first time coming here, and almost missed lights out because it took so long to actually get into one.

Like clockwork we disrobe to nothing but our boxers, making sure to turn the lights out once Matt is settled since he can't see that well in the dark. I debate whether going to my bed or not and shrug, climbing into his.

"Ugh, Kain?!" He whines at me and pushes me away a bit. "Too hot!" He whines.

"But I like the heat." I whine back, and cling to his torso. We're not dating right now, but I always like cuddling with him when given the chance and he's like a big teddy bear.

"You're already too hot as it is without _my_ body heat added to it." He huffs, but doesn't try to push me off again. What can I say, I'm naturally warmer than most people.

I nuzzle into his chest, tangling my legs with his and offer him a purr as thanks. He breathes out a sigh, but his arms come around me and he starts to run his fingers through my hair, which always puts me to sleep and without much effort I'm off into dream land.


	3. Chapter 3

**Italics means they're speaking Russian.**

* * *

 **Kyra's POV**

The plane ride to Japan was long. Even with the Hiwatari Enterprises private jet it took us nine hours to get to Tokyo with no stops. The plane ride was pretty dull, Sven and Dimitri sleeping for a lot of it while I tried to keep myself busy by reading or taking short naps. Even once we got to Tokyo it was a two-hour car ride to the camp, which thankfully Dad had rented us a car for. Sven, being eighteen meaning he was the oldest out of the three of us, decided to take driving duty, leaving me in the passenger seat and Dimitri in the back.

"Again, why was I not allowed to drive or even be in the passenger seat?" He grumbled.

"I don't know, maybe cause you ran a SUV into a lake?" Sven shot back with a smirk.

"Hey, you can't even blame me for that one. It was your idea to take it off-roading." Dimitri frowned, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, but I wasn't the one who drove it into the lake. Therefore, I am more responsible and get driving privileges. Plus, I'm the oldest and if I don't get to be captain, I get to drive." Sven explained, obvious he was still a bit irritated by me getting the captain spot on our team.

"Whatever gets you through the day, Sven." I sighed, rolling down the window to smoke a cigarette. After spending twelve hours travelling with these two, I deserved a smoke.

The three of us were a close-knit group. Since our fathers had been friends for so long, we'd practically all grown up together. Sven, Spencer's son, was the oldest of us all. He was eighteen, over 6'3 and held most of his father's features, dark blue eyes and shorter blonde hair. He had a reputation of being a flirt, the amount of girls he'd dated being more than I could count on one hand. He was an aggressive blader though, inheriting Seaborg from his father. He was by far the most sociable out of the three of us though, actually making an effort to branch out from our little friend group.

Dimitri was the son of Bryan and Tala, only being a few months younger than me. Tala had ended up wanting a child so bad that the two of them hired a surrogate and spent a lot of money in order to get both of their genes melded together to produce Dimitri. He had ended up gaining quite a lot of Tala's looks including his red hair that fell just below his shoulders, normally styled in a low ponytail, as well as being a bit lanky and his overall facial structure. He did however gain Bryan's height, being 6 feet tall, as well as Bryan's lavender eyes and the bit of muscle he had on him. Overall, he was a level-headed person compared to his fathers, always looking at all angles of a situation before making a decision. That was probably why he was such a talented blader. He acted with the perfect balance of logic and emotion, making him a fierce opponent. To say I didn't have an interest in Dimitri would be a lie.

The two of us had been best friends since we were toddlers, growing up to be just as close. He was the only person who truly knew me outside of my dad and it was a relationship I didn't really want to screw up.

I knew he had an interest in me as well, showing when I had dated another guy, Tristan, from our school. He would act really uptight any time I was around him, staying away whenever Tristan was around. It wasn't till I broke it off after two months that Dimitri really started acting like himself around me again. Two months without him really talking to me had hurt, making it so I hadn't dated anyone since. The two of us had been dancing around each other for years but neither one of us had the courage to make the first move, mostly not wanting to wreck the only real friendship either of us had.

As for me, I was the spitting image of my dad, Kai. I had gained his crimson eyes, fair skin, most of my personality and my body language. I also ended up inheriting his bitbeast Dranzer who I had formed an incredible bond with. I was tall for a girl, being 5'7 and relatively thin. I'd heard many at school starting rumors that I was some sort of model, something that always amused me. The only thing I hadn't gained from Dad was my long black hair, something I had gained from my other father.

I never really knew the logistics, but I had faint memories of my other father from when I was very young. I only really remembered that he was tan and had long black hair but nothing else. It had been just Dad and I for so long, I never really thought about my other father. Dad never really brought him up and to be honest, I didn't really have any interest in finding out about him either. As far as I was concerned, there was obviously a reason it was just Dad and I and if this other father wanted to be part of my life, he would have done it years ago. I was content with my life with Dad, not making me want to venture outside of it.

As for the team in general, it was just the three of us. I had the position of captain, while Dimitri held the current national championship title and Sven was ranked third in the league. Honestly the choice on captain wasn't even mine. Originally it was supposed to be Dimitri. His father, Tala, used to be captain of the Blitzkrieg Boys when they were younger and even when my dad was on the team. Plus there was the fact that Dimitri was a blading prodigy. He had started blading when we were seven, winning his first title at the age of eleven. So far at age seventeen he'd won five national championships and was thought of as this blading god by many other teams in the league. But when Tala had tried to bestow the honour of the captain position on him, he turned it down and gave it to me instead. Apparently to him I was best suited for the job due to my maturity level and the fact I was second in the league to him, but I knew it was partly because he didn't want the responsibility and giving it to Sven would have inflated his ego to a whole other level, therefore I was the only real option.

The idea of going to this camp had manifested after the last national tournament. We had won by a landslide, none of us ever having a loss throughout the whole thing. The three of us were getting bored with only competing in Russia, leading us to want to expand our range and compete on a world-wide level. We wanted a challenge but knew it would require more than our normal training, making us decide to venture to Japan, not only to expand our skills and technique but also to get a glimpse at what international bladers were like.

I wrinkled my nose when we pulled into the camp, seeing how rural the area of the camp was. I mean, we weren't roughing it but was far too outdoorsy for my taste. The three of us were used to training in state of the art gyms, not outside surrounded by trees.

Dimitri laughed when he saw my face as we all got out of the car. "Too many trees for you, Hiwatari?"

"I didn't think it was all going to be outside." I grimaced, finishing off my cigarette before putting out the rest of it with my boot. This place was definitely different than Moscow, that's for sure.

"Obviously someone didn't actually do their research on this place before agreeing to come." Sven snickered.

"Oh shut up. It's ranked as being one of the best training camps in the BBA, that's all I had to see to make my choice." I snapped back, crossing my arms and turning my head away from him.

The three of us already knew our room assignments, deciding to go and unpack before the opening registration began. I had to admit, I was not a fan of having to share a room. Being an only child of a single parent I wasn't really used to having to share anything, let alone my room with some random stranger. Thankfully the girl I was rooming with didn't try to press into me much. She was a lot shorter than me and had a blonde pixie cut with bright violet eyes. She introduced herself to me, to which I just nodded and continued to unpack my suitcases.

It was strange being this far away from my Dad. We had a pretty close relationship since moving to Russia, him being able to take a lot more time away from the company to spend with me. To say I had my dad wrapped around my finger was an understatement. Being the CEO of a major company meant he always made sure I had enough and then some. I wasn't a spoiled brat by any means, but Dad did make sure we were well taken care of, often doing this by buying me a lot of high priced clothing, Beyblade equipment and electronics. He was a great dad, allowing me a lot of independence and the ability to make my own decisions but still putting his foot down when he thought something was too harmful to me.

Some examples being the Range Rover incident and my smoking habit. I got grounded for a month after we'd driven into the lake and had the lecturing of a lifetime for the whole week after he found out I'd picked up smoking at fifteen. It wasn't till this year he really got over it and started smoking with me, even letting me have the very occasional drink with him on holidays and my birthday. I was going to miss him a lot, but I had to admit he was getting on my nerves with all this sleeping around.

I didn't know what it was, but Dad hadn't committed to anyone since leaving my other father when I was a toddler. It wasn't until I was fifteen that I really noticed him bringing men home, something I thought was just a phase until it started happening almost every night. I didn't want to judge my dad, but to me it was really gross and the only idea I could come up with for his actions was trying to get over my other father. Whenever I'd asked him about settling down he said he had no interest in it, being perfectly content with his life with me, but I was worried for the day I'd move out and start my own life. What would happen without me there?

It didn't take me long to unpack, going to join Dimitri and Sven at the entrance of the main building along with over one hundred other bladers. The two of them got to room together, not having to worry about living with some random stranger. Lucky bastards.

" _I recommend while here we speak in Russian. Especially when it comes to strategy and our team's business. It may be a training camp, but other teams here are wanting to win the world tournament as well. We need to give ourselves a leg up, especially when most of the teams here are from Japan or America."_ Dimitri suggested, slipping into our native tongue.

Although the three of us did know Russian and could speak it fluently, we normally spoke English, only speaking Russian when we really felt the need to or had to in order to communicate back home. Just from listening to the chatter around us, it was obvious the main population of people here were English speaking, meaning we had no other choice than to speak Russian if we didn't want to be understood.

Just as I was about to respond I heard an obnoxiously loud voice come over a megaphone.

"IF I COULD HAVE EVERYONE'S ATTENTION!" A man with light-blue hair yelled.

The crowd went quiet, everyone's attention being directed to the man with the megaphone.

"GREAT, GLAD TO SEE I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION NOW." He spoke into the megaphone again.

Alright, we get it. You have a megaphone. Please stop now.

After hearing our instructions on how to sign in I tuned out, starting to walk when we were given the go ahead. I quickly made it to the front, the two boys following close behind as I signed the papers and handed them back, leading us to the far end of the cafeteria towards the window. I sat down on one side of the table, Dimitri and Sven following my lead and sitting across from me together.  
" _I honestly have no idea what to make of this place. It looks like a lot of younger people."_ Sven sighed.

" _A lot of them seem like they're kids of other bladers though like we are. They might be young, but we can't underestimate them."_ Dimitri warned, giving Sven a look.

" _No offense, but I have to agree with Sven on this one. None of these kids look like competition for us."_ I commented, showing my boredom on my face.

" _You never know. We'll have to see how everyone is once our blades come out. You can't just judge by age and looks."_ Dimitri responded, shaking his head at both of our judgmental behaviors.

We continued to speak casually in Russian when someone sat down in the seat beside me. I looked over, raising my eyebrow to see a boy, obviously younger than me who looked weirdly similar to my dad. He had crimson eyes like I did, as well as black hair with slate colored strands through it. His looks were quickly dismissed, being over staged by the thought of who is this random person and why the hell did he have the audacity to sit beside me? I glare at him as Dimitri begins to speak.

"Can we help you?" Dimitri asked.

"Hi, I'm Kain." He puts out his hand, obvious that he wants me to shake it. Instead I wrinkle my nose, looking turned off to the idea.

"That's nice, but why should I care?" I sneered.

"Just wanted to say hi, I haven't seen you here before and wanted to see how you liked the place. I've been coming here for three years now, my teammates dad is one of the coaches, and his uncle was the one with the mega-phone earlier." He droned on.

"And I care why?" I bit back. Why will this kid not go away?

"Just telling you." He shrugged, pulling his hand back. "Can I get your names at least?"

The three of us all look at each other, all giving the similar 'should we really entertain this kid?' face. Sven, being the social person he is, unfortunately decides to answer.

"I'm Sven." He offers up.

"I'm Dimitri." Dimitri spoke, looking unenthused with the conversation at hand.

"Nice to meet you." The boy smiles, almost looking like he has fangs when he does.

"Kyra." I sigh with an eye roll. I honestly hate Sven at this very moment.

"It's a pleasure to meet you guys, if you ever need anything let me know since I've been coming here so long." Kain informs us with a smile.

"Thanks, we appreciate it." Sven responds.

"Kain! Get your ass over here!" A random voice yells, causing Kain's head to fall down.

"Well, I'll see you guys later." He says, standing up and giving us a wave. Sven waves back as the boy runs off.

" _Did you really have to acknowledge his presence? Like, seriously, what is wrong with you?"_ I scowled.

" _Oh, calm down Kyra. He seems harmless. Honestly you should be blaming yourself. The way he was looking at you, it's obvious the kid thinks you're hot."_ Sven snickered.

Dimitri's face paled, looking at me only to look relieved when he saw my face filled with disgust.

I faked a gag at that thought. " _Ew. That kid better not end up hitting on me or I may smash up more than just his blade."  
_ The two boys laugh as I shake my head at the idea still. I was used to being admired and asked out, but it was something I was getting rather tired of. There was only one person I really wanted to be interested in me, but neither of us would get up the nerve to act on it. I wanted Dimitri, but the idea of something happening to ruin our friendship stressed me out too much.

The guy with the megaphone came back, this time ditching the megaphone to tell us the rules of the camp. Apparently the first day here was a free day, meaning we could do whatever we pleased until the real training began. After he finished speaking Sven turned to Dimitri and me with a mischievous smile.

" _So a free day. What should we do with that?"_ He was obviously trying to hint at something, but I had no idea what.

" _I mean, is there really anything interesting to do around here? I'm probably just going to end up staying in my room and reading."_ I sighed. I mean there were trails and stuff but me and the outdoors did not mix. I preferred the activities of the city, not roughing it and walking trails.

" _It looks like there's a secluded lake on this map, close to a waterfall. We could always hang out there, blade a bit, smoke a bit, swim?"_ Sven suggested, Dimitri's eyes lighting up at the idea.

" _That sounds like fun. I mean, we rarely get to go to beaches back home."_ Dimitri smiled.

Damn him and that charming smile. I'm pretty sure he could sucker me into anything with that perfect smile and lavender eyes. The two boys looked at me, grins planted on their face and obviously waiting for me to cave to their desires.

" _Oh my god, fine. But we better train for at least a few hours and you better have brought some of that Svedka vodka if I'm going to have to deal with you for two months straight."_ I groaned.

Since Sven was of legal drinking age in Russia he was often the one to get us alcohol. Even though all of our fathers let us drink with them on special occasions, we knew they would flip if they found out we drank together regularly.

He brought out his mischievous grin again. " _Of course I did. Well it's settled, Blitzkrieg beach day."_

We ended the night by having a smoke together close to the forest before I parted ways with them to go back to my room. I came in to see the girl I was rooming with, I think her name was Stella, was already asleep. I was still wide awake, Moscow being six hours behind Japan meaning that what was eleven at night here was only five in the evening in Russia.

I sighed, laying down in bed and beginning to read one of the assortments of books I had brought before being interrupted by my phone buzzing. I picked it up to see a text from Dad.

[I hope you got there safe. How is everything so far? Are the three of you adapting well?]

I smirked. My dad may act cold and like he doesn't care to most, but with me he is relatively soft, showing his worry for me often when I'm away from him, even if it's just for a tournament a few hours away.

[Yes Dad, we made it here alive. I may kill Sven by the end of this, but I will come home alive. It's okay. A lot of younger kids but there's enough older teens here for us not to feel awkward.] I texted back, holding back a laugh when I saw the notification go from delivered to read within seconds.

[That's good. I miss you, call me when you can. I love you.]

[Dad, it hasn't even been a day. But yes, I'll call you soon. Love you too. Be a good boy.] I joked.

It was hard not to laugh when he sent me an unimpressed emoticon back. I'd taught him what they were, and this was one of the times I really enjoyed that I did. I'm not sure when but I finally drifted off for a while, being rudely awakened the next morning by my phone vibrating by my head. Thankfully I had it set on vibrate since Stella was still asleep in her bed across from mine.

I groaned, picking up the phone as I wiped the sleep from my eyes. "Privyet?"

"Kyra, where the hell are you? We're out here waiting to go." Sven's voice yelled through the phone.

"Dear Jesus, why are the two of you awake? It would be the middle of the night in Russia." I sighed.

"Well we have to get used to the time difference somehow. Now get up and get moving, we want to go swim." Sven demanded.

I sighed, hanging up the phone without an answer. I threw on my black bikini underneath a pair of black high wasted shorts and a lacy crop top, slipping on a pair of black flats before packing my bag with the essentials, a towel, my blading gear, cigarettes and a speaker, and making my way over to meet my team.

The three of us signed out, heading to the right of the main building towards the gap between the rock walls that surrounded the grounds. Having to follow the map to the waterfall, the paths were winding in and out of the trees for about two miles before the waterfall came into perfect view. Already there were groups of other bladers around, some lounging while others swimming. Different kinds of music were blending from all the different speakers the others brought out, we found a place by the edge of the lake under the shade of a tree and some rocks. Trying to keep as far from them all as possible, most of them seemed to take the hint that we didn't want to be messed with.

Together we started to disrobe from our covers, and I chanced a quick look over Dimitri before he caught on. Sven was already heading out towards the water, while I laid out my towel over the sand as Dimitri stayed back with me.

 _"You don't have to stand there, I'm just gonna sit here and read."_ I told him, I could tell he was debating staying or going with Sven.

 _"Alright… Um… See you then. Oh god no."_ His face paled as his eyes shifted from me to behind me, I turned my head to look over my shoulder and almost jumped to hide behind the rocks that sat near us.

Kain was walking down the path towards the lake, in nothing but his swimsuit, he didn't even have a towel with him. Behind him was a taller boy, not as tall as Sven, with brown hair and bright blue eyes. He seemed more sensible than Kain since he had a cover on over his swimsuit and a towel draped over his shoulder.

Luckily for us, me, he didn't seem to be paying attention to anything around him but the waterfall. The boy behind him finding a spot right near the waters edge a few feet away from us, he hadn't met us yet, so I wasn't concerned with him seeing us. I don't know why I kept bother watching, curiosity wasn't something that I normally let take control, but I sat and watched as Kain started through the water.

"Just be careful!" The taller boy shouted as he sat down, a slight scowl on his face.

"When am I ever not? You could come with me this time, if you're man enough." Kain called back, something in his tone carried a flirtatious vibe to it and that only made my head spin. He was flirting with me just yesterday! No, I was not in the slightest bit jealous, but I had already come to the conclusion that he was a weird kid.

"What is he doing?" Dimitri asked, slipping into English rather than Russian. I could tell he was also curious about this kid.

"No thanks." The other called back, and I shifted to get a better look at what it was Kain was doing, none of the adults that were around us seemed to care that he kept swimming towards the rocks where the waterfall was spilling down.

My mouth slightly fell, he was climbing up the side of the waterfall. He was quick too, and the more I watched it seemed like he had known where to put his hands and his feet at all times. I chanced a glance at his friend on the edge of the water, he had decided to stand and looked like he was just waiting for Kain to fall into the water. He was about ten feet up already; a small crowd had started to form around the edge while others swam away from where he could fall off any second.

My heart was beating faster, and yet the adults still did nothing to stop him. He kept going up until he reached a larger rock that shot out just to the right of the waterfall, taking a seat right on the edge with his feet hanging off. Even though he was high up, my eyesight has always been well off and I could see him perfectly. He had a smug grin on his face and one of those 'fangs' was sticking over his lower lip; his hair was matted to his face and neck from the spray of the water.

"Show off." Dimitri grumbled.

"MIND COMING DOWN NOW?!" His friend called, cupping his hands over his mouth.

"IF YOU INSIST!" He called back and stood, he looked around a bit and our eyes locked for a second. "OI! HEY KYRA!" He waved at me and I sunk back, but couldn't peel my eyes away.

"He's going to jump?!" Dimitri shouted and inched closer, my eyes went wide at the sight of the boy casually jumping off the rock he had been sitting on.

"Why do you do this to me?" His friend grumbled, palming his face as Kain's body fell towards the water.

There were people cheering and others gasping loudly out of fear, the adults still didn't care. Maybe this was normal, he did say he had been coming here a while now. His body hit the water with a very loud smack and I winced just from the noise, his friend stepped into the water a bit, but he didn't look all that worried. A few seconds passed and Kain came jumping out of the water sucking in air, then he set off and a dead swim to the shore line as the crowd that had watched were clapping.

"So Matt, how many points this time?" Kain asked him as he stood in front of his friend, they were only a few inches apart.

"Negative thirty, you dumbass." Matt mumbled, but that stupid grin on Kain's face didn't leave.

"That's a better score than last year, I must be improving then. C'mon I have someone I want you to meet." Oh no!

He grabbed Matt by the hand, something I figured the other boy would have pulled away from, but he allowed himself to be lead over to where Dimitri and I were sitting.

"Morning guys, this is Matt. Co-captain of the Bladebreakers. I'm the other captain. Matt this is Kyra and Dimitri." Kain started off and I could already feel Dimitri tense beside me, and I glared at Kain.

"Hey, nice to meet you guys." Matt said looking a bit embarrassed.

Before anyone else had the chance to speak an adult came up to our left, hands on their hips looking rather displeased for some reason. He had dark-blue hair and brown eyes, in the same BBA uniform the others were wearing.

"Kain Taxon Hiwatari, how many times do I have to tell you not to jump off that waterfall?!" The man shouted, and I looked at Kain for a second. Hiwatari was my last name.

"Sorry uncle Tyson." Kain grinned, rubbing the back of his head.

"Your father will kill me if he finds out, please stop before you do get hurt." Tyson continued.

"Yes sir." Kain hung his head a bit and Tyson sighed rather loudly before chancing a glance at me and Dimitri, his eyes went wide for a second and before he said anything to either of us he spun on his heel and walked away.

 _"What was that about?"_ Dimitri asked, but I had no answer to give him, how was I supposed to know?

"So, you guys want to get some lunch?" Kain turned to us, his previous sulking demeanor now gone.

"No thanks." I sneered, upturning my nose. I was still trying to comprehend how we had the same last name, but for some reason I didn't feel the need to ask him. It wasn't like the name wasn't uncommon in Japan.

"Suit yourself, c'mon Matt." He turned to his friend and once again they locked hands before turning away and leaving us, letting me breathe a bit easier.

 _"Weird kid."_ Dimitri mumbled under his breath.

 _"No kidding."_ I responded. I was going to have to tell dad about all this, I'm sure he'd have a good laugh about it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Kain's POV**

After getting slightly scolded and then turned down again, it was best I had a shower after coming from the lake and all. Matt followed me, the others still hadn't gotten up yet since they were still tired from the ride here, which was fine since it was a free day and all. We had to make a quick pit-stop at our cabin, since I didn't bring a towel with me to the lake. The camp grounds were slowly starting to over crowd again with the other bladers, some just waking up while others were coming back from hiking through the woods.

I led us into the room, quickly grabbing my towel off the hook from the shelf and taking my small toiletries bag from the second shelf. Turning to Matt to make sure he was still coming, he never got in the water but since the others weren't up that left him being stuck with me, not that I minded.

"Ready?" He nods to me and I start back out of the cabin, I go to jump the steps like I always do and land, but a pain shoots up my right ankle causing me to falter and fall on my knees.

"Kain! You alright?" Matt's beside me within a second and holding my shoulder.

"Must have hit the water wrong." I grind my teeth trying to stand and another pain shoots up my leg, I curse under my breath in Chinese which always makes him chuckle.

"Dammit, we should have Hiro take a look at it." He pulls me up by the arm, so I can lean on him since he's taller, I use as little pressure as I can on my ankle while keeping my arm wrapped around his.

"No, it should go away in a little bit if I stay off of it." I don't like the idea of telling Hiro because telling Hiro will mean he'll tell Tyson, and Tyson will tell my dad.

"You sure? What if it doesn't? Training starts tomorrow, if you're not able to stand right."

"Just stop, you're over thinking things I'm fine." I hiss and push more weight down, it stings but not as badly as before. "See?" He gives me a look that tells me he doesn't buy it, but I'm stubborn and he knows this isn't a battle he can win.

"Fine, don't know why I bother." He releases my arm and I stumble from the shift since I was using most of my weight against him and falter again, before catching myself quickly. Being part neko-jin has it's advantages, but doing that only caused the pain to flare up once more.

"Ass!" I hiss at him and he just laughs at me, walking towards the shower rooms.

Our bickering ceases once we reach the shower rooms, since he's taller he gets there before I do and hobbling my way there only slowed me down more. He climbs the steps and watches me carefully, he and Stella are always watching over one of us, mainly it's Stella who does but since she's not here it's him.

Once I get on the small porch under the overhang he opens the door for me, the bathroom is sizable and split down the middle by a wall. On each side of the wall sits three sinks, with a floor length mirror behind them. On the right side are the showers, there's five in total, all privately closed off by a wooden door. The toilets, five as well, are on the left behind more wooden doors. There are two small alcoves right by the door on each side with lockers and a place to sit. On the opposite end of the bathroom are two more doors that lead into the main building, and I can hear the excited chatter coming through the walls. This is the only room that isn't covered in wood, it's all done up in a light brown tile from top to bottom.

"You gonna be alright?" Matt asks as he watches me head to the right alcove towards the lockers.

"Yes, now get off my back. You're acting like my dad." I roll my eyes, not even bothering to look at him over my shoulder.

"Don't have to be so touchy about it, damn I was just asking." He huffs at me standing up to the locker on my left.

We strip down, wrapping our towels around our waists and taking our toiletry bags with us, not once did we say a word as we opened our own shower room door and slamming them shut. I hang my towel on the little hook provided by the door, making sure to lock it behind me before I take the four steps to the open shower head and pull the curtain back. I don't want to be snappy with him but it's this damn feeling in me that I can't shake, I'd like to chalk it up to being hurt emotionally and physically but I know that just can't be it.

I've been scorned, plenty of times, and I've been rejected just about as much. I'm not shallow, but I know I look good, I've been told so. It's just something about that girl, Kyra, that I find alluring. She seems like a snob, somehow if I had a type she fits into that category pretty well. She looks like she comes from money, BIG money, with her designer clothes and all that.

Me? Dad and I are well off, him saving up everything just so he could open his own restaurant, which he's currently in the process of doing. We have money, but he's always instilled in me to not be so materialistic, and I honestly couldn't picture him ever being that way to begin with. Gabe, he has money since he's a really renowned doctor and all, but even he doesn't flash his wealth around.

Thinking about that all has caused the pain in my ankle to dull a little, it doesn't hurt as much to just stand on it now, so my mood is getting a bit better. I'll still need a smoke later though, just because I know my mood can switch on me in an instant. I wish I knew what was going on, but since dad's phone is off I can't call him. I tried this morning after waking up, he hadn't called or texted me at all which was strange, so I called him and got nothing. That hasn't helped my mood in the slightest, climbing the waterfall helped me clear my head of that though earlier.

"Kain, you done?" Matt calls knocking on my door, I've been done for a while now while going through my thoughts, having just been standing under the spray of the shower enjoying the warmth.

"Yeah, be there in a sec." I call back, turning the shower off and stepping out to grab my towel when my ears perk up at new voices and that strange language again.

With renewed strength I wrap my towel around my waist quicker, packing my soaps back into my bag and almost cause Matt to fall through the door when I opened it.

"Sorry, didn't know you were leaning on it." I give him my best damn grin, and he just shakes his head at me after regaining his composure.

We step around the corner of the wall where the lockers sit in the alcove, Dimitri and Sven have their backs to us still talking to each other in their weird language, two lockers over from Matt's locker.

"Hey guys!" I call out and I can see Dimitri's back tense as he was just about to pull his shirt over his head.

"Hello Kain." Sven turns slightly and smiles at me, I like this guy.

"Sven." I nod. "Oh, you haven't met Matt yet! Matt this is Sven, he's on Kyra's team with Dimitri." I introduce, and Matt holds his hand out, Sven takes it and they shake hands. Matt has to tilt his head up slightly to meet Sven's eyes, but they smile at each other all the same.

Dimitri barks something out at Sven in their language who sighs and releases Matt's hands, Matt and I exchange a look and then shrug at each other.

"So… Does Kyra have a boyfriend already, or does she not like guys? Like, what's her deal?" I start, walking up to my locker.

"She just doesn't like little runts like you!" Dimitri turns on me, and his lavender eyes burn. I get it now.

"Oh, okay. If you two were together all you had to do was say something." I shrug, opening my locker but I can see his face turn as red as his hair from the corner of my eyes.

"That! That's not it!" He practically screams.

"Oh?" I cock an eyebrow at him. "Then what is it?"

"I told you! Just leave Kyra alone, otherwise you'll regret it." He sneers, narrowing his eyes at me.

"I'm up for a challenge." I shrug, he doesn't scare me.

"Kain, don't." Matt warns, stepping between Dimitri and me. "Just ignore him, I'm sorry for how he is sometimes." He turns his back on me to look at Dimitri.

"Whatever, just stay away from us. If and when we meet at the dish, you'll be sorry for ever trying to get on our good side kid." I hate being called that! I put my hand on Matt's shoulder and push him aside to get in Dimitri's face, even though I have to crane my neck to look up since he's as tall as Matt. Hopefully I hit a second growth spurt soon, I'm tired of being five-eight.

"I am NOT a kid! I'm fifteen years old, and if anyone of us is going to be sorry it'll be _your_ team!" My pupils slit from anger and he stares wide eyed at me for a minute before blinking and then growling in his throat.

"We could kick your team's ass with our hands behind our backs, you shouldn't be so eager to lose." He sneers at me, but as I said he doesn't scare me and I'm always up for a challenge.

"Fine, tomorrow after lunch when we have the two hour down time, you're on! My team against yours."

"You're on!" Dimitri shouts at me before turning away, Sven and Matt both let out a sigh but don't say anything otherwise.

With that I turn back to my locker, getting dressed in my damp swimsuit since I didn't bring an extra pair of clothes. Matt is silent while he dresses in his dry swimsuit and pulls his shirt on over his head, we both slam our lockers after taking up our things. Why he slammed his I don't know, it might have been directed at me, but I don't care if he's mad at me. As we leave Sven and Dimitri go back to talking in their language, so I tune them out as I lead Matt out of the bathroom to our cabin.

It was quiet again as we walked back, the pain in my ankle was completely gone now as I was still fuming. We enter the cabin, Matt still behind me but he doesn't slam the door behind him as I drop my things on my bed and go for the drawers that hold my clothes.

"What the hell Kain? Did you really have to go and do that?" He finally speaks, but he doesn't step close to me.

"I'm not just gonna sit back and let them bad mouth our team like that."

"This wasn't about the team you know that, and I know that. She's not interested, so drop it." I can sense the jealousy in his voice but that doesn't bother me either, we're not together so I'm allowed to find other people to date.

"It's not about that now, he insulted us, _our_ team. Being captains we should defend our team, we've never lost a match so I'm not worried." I say as I pull on my light blue jeans, they sit just below my hips and cuff around my ankles.

" _You_ haven't lost a match… We don't know how powerful they are, we shouldn't just run in on the first day like this. Use your head for once!" He shouts at me, throwing his towel on his bed.

"Alright… Fine, we'll discuss it with the others when we go to lunch. If they don't agree to it, I'll just blade. Alright?" I give him my best pleading look I can muster, my kitty eyes normally work on him, but I don't think he's having any of it right now.

He sighs out a bit, his shoulders slumping forward. "Fine, I can agree to that." He moves further into the room, coming up to the dresser beside me rummaging through his own drawers.

I smile to him as thanks, a fang sticking out, but he doesn't bother to look. I rummage around a bit more and pull out my favorite red tank top, slipping it over my head careful not to snag the hem down on my nipple piercing. The shirt rides up a bit over my stomach resting right above my hips, exposing just a bit of skin and my belly button. The arm holes are trimmed in yellow and the collar comes around my neck, with its own yellow trim along the hem. It's a tight-fitting shirt, hugging my torso in all the right places.

I pull the white bandages out of the drawer and look at them for a minute before putting them back in, I normally don't wear them unless I'm blading and right now I don't feel like wrapping them. All the while Matt is still silent getting dressed beside me. In his own style of dark blue jeans, that hang around his legs loosely. His shirt is a pale yellow with a dark brown hoodie that he keeps open over the shirt, rolling the sleeves up just above his elbows.

I step away to my shelf, pulling my lucky white scarf off the hook. It's a weighted scarf that I found one day in the attic, it was stuffed away in a box I happened to find while looking for Christmas decorations about four years ago. Dad said I could have it, so I've worn it and trained with it on since. At first the weight was unbearable on my shoulders and neck, but eventually I got used to it and it doesn't bother me anymore. If anything, it's helped me launch better with and without it on. My teammates know that when a battle gets tough for me the scarf comes off, and by the time the opponent can blink the match is over. I've never lost a match with it on, thus why it's my lucky scarf.

I manage to fix it around over my neck, making sure to tie it at the back and it cascades down into two pieces of fabric down my back to the back of my lower legs. Some people have said it looks like I have wings when it flows behind me.

Matt's on his bed now, pulling on his black boots so I follow suit and sit beside him taking my brown boots with me. I can't stand the silence anymore, he isn't normally the one to give the cold shoulder so it's up to me to break the ice.

He shifts away closer to the end of his bed as I sit, keeping his focus on tying his boots up. I scoot a bit closer, and smirk when I can see his eyebrows knit together in a scowl.

I nudge him in the side. "C'mon, you know you can't stay mad at me for long." He just grunts at me, okay so that didn't work. "Mattttttttttt" I whine out and he flinches, finished with his laces he sits back and stares at me pointedly.

"Don't do that!" He shouts, his face tinted red.

"Oh, you can talk." I smirk at him again and lean closer to him where our shoulders touch.

"Quit being so cocky." He huffs out, but doesn't move away.

"Sorry… I didn't mean to overstep earlier, we should make decisions for the team together. If you really don't think it's a good idea to blade the others I won't." Even though I really, REALLY, want to.

"You can, but don't drag the team into your petty fights. I don't even think she's worth it in all honesty." I'd say he's cute when jealous but he's not, he was the one always flirting when we _were_ dating.

"I told you I'm not doing it for that, I meant what I said about defending the team. I have faith in them, you should to. You are our other captain." I pull back from his shoulder and stare at him pointedly, he sighs out and nods.

"I know, and as co-captain I still say it's not a good idea. We'll be there cheering you on though, because that's what a team is supposed to do." After he finishes his little speech he pushes himself off the bed, walking towards the door and leaving me there.

I sit in silence for a minute thinking it over, what I told him was the truth. It's clear as day to me that Kyra and Dimitri have something going on, or maybe not, I don't really know. I don't know either of them, or how powerful they can be in the dish, but I do have faith in my team. They've never let me down once, and I haven't let them down either. I won't bring them into this though, Matt is right about that, so it'll just be me. I pull my boots on, sighing out as I do so and lace them up. Before leaving I have a quick smoke, making sure to spray some cologne on before stepping out.

"Hey Kain!" Thomas calls from his porch to his cabin, I almost didn't sense him standing over there.

"Hey, bout time you got up." I wave back to him as I step down the stairs to my cabin, he waits till Victor steps out and they come and meet me on the ground.

"Here Kain, Driger's all fixed up for you." Victor holds Driger out for me and I take it, pushing him into my pocket after inspecting him for a minute.

"Thanks Chief, really appreciate it. Thomas, did you see where Matt ran off to?"

"He went over to Stella's cabin." Thomas tilts his head to the side to his right, indicating the 'girls side' of the camp. "Said he'd meet us in the main hall for lunch."

"Good enough for me, lets go." I wave at them to follow and they don't have to be told twice, coming up behind me and following me around the main building.

It's not as crowded in the main hall this time, since lunch just started. Like always we wait in line at the left-hand window to grab our lunch, taking our trays back to our normal table in our normal spots. I didn't realize how hungry I was, having missed dinner the night before and breakfast, dad would have my head if he knew I skipped meals.

He's always worrying too much about me, treating me like I'm three and it gets on my nerves. Him being with Gabe hasn't helped either, he lets Gabe act like another father to me and that just pisses me off. I honestly don't see what dad see's in him, he's hardly anything to look at and his humor is tasteless. Sure, he's nice and all, but there's just something off about him. Ever since he came around dads had nothing but troubles trying to get his restaurant up and running, we knew it would take a while for it all to be settled but not _this_ long.

For the most part our table is quiet, everyone just enjoying their food in silence and Thomas stands to get seconds before Victor or I are even halfway through ours. He gets his bottomless pit from his father, but he's still a good level-headed guy. My ears perk up, Matt and Stella are coming down the hall in idle chatter.

"Afternoon guys, did everyone sleep good?" Our 'mother' starts, glancing at us all at the table as Thomas returns with his second tray.

"Slept like a rock, how about you Stella?" Thomas turns to her and smiles, his own can put his fathers to shame the way his brown eyes shine when he does that.

"It was pleasant enough, how about you Victor?" She turns to our youngest member, noticing the dark rings under his eyes.

"Just… Just fine, really." He cowers a bit, we all know he probably didn't sleep until four this morning. He's like his father in that aspect, constantly making sure our blades are up-to-date.

"You shouldn't stay up so late, alright?" Stella places her hands on her hips as she looks down at him.

"Well somebodies gotta do it." Victor mumbles out, now he sounds like his mother. "I'll make sure to get plenty tonight, I promise." Stella just nods and now her attention turns to me, she narrows her eyes at me and I offer a sloppy grin.

"Kain." She starts, her voice hitched in sarcasm as she speaks my name. Having lived with her all my life I'm used to this now, she likes to make sure I'm taking care of myself and not pestering her younger brother too much.

"Stella." I smile, the same sarcasm in my tone.

"How did you sleep?"

"Just fine." I won't tell her it was because I was cuddling her brother all night long, after our last break up she doesn't think we should keep doing this with each other. Part of me agrees with her, the other part doesn't like the idea of actually letting go yet.

"I see, so… Isn't there something you'd like to tell the rest of us?"

"Stella, I said not now." Matt groans out, palming his forehead.

"What's up man?" Thomas turns to me, always coming in at the most pivotal moments of the conversation.

"I challenged Kyra's team to a match tomorrow, at first it was going to be our team against there's, but now it'll just be me." Thomas's eyes go wide at that and he grins at me.

"Why is that a bad thing? That's what we're here to do, isn't it?" He looks between me and the twins now.

"It is, but we shouldn't get into petty fights like this. Just because you can't get a date with some random girl doesn't mean you drag us down with you, we're a team Kain." Stella continues to stare at me as she speaks, and I nod my head.

"I already know this, that's why it'll just be me. I didn't mean to drag you all into it, I was trying to defend our team."

"Alright, that's enough for now." Matt steps up, placing a hand on his sister's shoulder and she turns on him with her stare.

"You know Matthew, the twelve minutes before you were born were the best of my life, then you showed up." Ouch, but it doesn't seem to bother Matt. Always having to be the mediator between me and our 'sister'.

Having lived with the Tates for all my life we go through these little banters in circles, much to our father's dismay. Eventually we come back, apologize and make up over ice cream and movies. The twins are a handful on their own, don't get me wrong. Matt is constantly worrying about his _older_ sister dating, while she teases him for being such a flirt. They go around in the same circles too, add me into the mix and it just gets more complicating. Matt is always trying to be the older brother, even though I'm older than both of them, and Stella will have none of that.

"Love you too sis." Matt pats her head, since she's only five-five, before walking away to the window of the kitchen.

"You two better make up, you hear me?" She turns on me again, and I nod. I tried already, he's just grumpy. "If you want to blade with those three Russians than do so, but Matt has already said the rest of us have to sit out." Thomas groans and slumps down into his seat at that.

"How do you know they're Russian?" I cock an eyebrow at her, I'm tired of the arguing so I'm steering the conversation now.

"Kyra told me." She says rather proudly, I had forgotten they were sharing a room.

"Oh." That's about all I can say now, and then the loud speaks come on.

"IF I COULD HAVE EVERYONE'S ATTENTION, IN THRITY MINUTES EVERY BLADER NEEDS TO BE IN THE MAIN BUILDING FOR SORTING." I clamp my hands over my ears to dull out the noise, thanks a lot Hiro I didn't need the power of hearing anymore.

"I almost forgot about that." Victor mumbles once the announcement is over with.

Even though the rest of us are done, and Matt and Stella have eaten we stay at our table watching the other bladers all pile into the dinning room. It's getting louder and the ringing that's still in my ears isn't helping, so I rest my head against the wood of the table and try to block them out. Damn me for being part neko-jin, sometimes I love it other times I hate it.

Eventually the main building is filled to the brim with everyone, I don't bother to lift my head from the table as Hiro and the other coaches all file in and stand in the space between the two walls in the middle of the building.

"Kain, cup your ears Hiro has the mega phone again." Matt leans over and whispers to me and I don't have to be told twice, my hands fly up and clamp down as tight as I can push on my ears.

"Alright, it's good to see you all again. Those who have been here before know what's going on, so just sit back and wait it out. For those of you who are new, we're sorting your teams and those who are here without one and assigning you a coach." Luckily Hiro's voice is slightly muffled by my hands, but it's still ringing in my head.

"We'll call the captains of each team, and names of the individual blader. Just the captain needs to step forward next to their new coach, they'll be giving you your training schedule and stats of each person on the team, or individual blader." Hiro finishes, and there's the slight sound of paper rustling so I look up now uncovering my ears.

The entire room is quiet as we all wait for him to start again, we already know we'll have Tyson but it's always fun to see which coach the other bladers get paired with.

"Adachi, your team is with Mr. Gato." A Japanese kid stands from his table, crossing the room to Gato, a rather tall Australian man with a buzz cut. He used to be in the military, and I'm glad I don't have to put up with his training regime. Last year a kid collapsed on a hike from exhaustion.

It goes like that for a while, Hiro calling out names alphabetically, he'll call my name since it's closer to the top than Tate is. For now, I wait, listening to the slew of Japanese, English, and other nationality names filter through the room until then.

"Henry, you're with Mrs. Yamano." A short little red-haired kid stands, he has no team of his own and he falls in line behind Yamano, a short Japanese woman. She used to be a school teacher, and I hear she's really kind.

"Hiwatari." I push back, and the legs of the chair scrape across the wooden floor, as does another pair of legs.

My head snaps to my left, my eyes go wide for a moment as Kyra is standing up at the table in the corner of the room. I feel like everyone is starring at me and she looks back at me, her crimson eyes are narrowed. What did I do now?

"Shit." I can hear Hiro mumble out, it wasn't loud enough for anyone else to hear but I heard it thanks to my blessing/curse. Shit what?!

"Kain, your team is with Mr. Granger. Kyra, your team is with Mr. Masefield." Hiro recovers quickly, but not before clearing his throat. What is going on?!

I don't say anything as I push past the rest of the bladers, Kyra doing the same and now people are whispering around us, but I block them out. Hiwatari isn't that an uncommon name, but that's not all they're whispering about. I guess I never really noticed it before, but we do look alike.

We reach Hiro at the same time, both of us parting to stand in line behind our coaches. I smirk slightly, she has to deal with Brooklyn, she can have fun with that guy. The commotion dies down as Hiro continues down the list till every blader is sorted out, and we're allowed to go back to our teams or tables.

"So… You still want to get with her after _that_?" Stella asks me, crossing her arms over her chest.

"After what?" I raise an eyebrow, having handed out the sheets of paper with their personal stats.

"You two look alike, I didn't really realize it till now though since I haven't seen you two together yet." She answers, but that doesn't really bother me.

"So? Our children will just be as adorable as us then." I wave her off, I'm only playing since I don't want to be with Kyra anymore. Stuck up snob.

"You have the same last name." Stella reminds me, yeah that is a bit weird but not really.

"Saves money for when we get married and she doesn't have to change it." I wave her off again and everyone grumbles under their breath. "What?"

"What if you guys are like, siblings?" Thomas asks, leaning across the table past Matt.

"What?! No way, dad would have told me. Besides I was only pulling your guys legs, I'm not interested in her anymore."

"That was quick." Thomas says sitting back down into his seat.

"Eh, I know when I'm not wanted." I shrug because it doesn't bother me. "Right now, she's the enemy, nothing more." My voice turns cold as I speak.

"There it is." Matt says, and everyone turns to him, he's got an adorable smile on his lips.

"What?" We all ask in unison.

"Your captain mask coming back, I was wondering where it went off too. I'm sorry for earlier, I honestly thought you were just trying to pick petty fights. I see it now, you were trying to defend the team." He explains, and the table goes quiet for a second, then Thomas smacks Matt on the shoulder.

"So, does this mean we all get to blade tomorrow?" His brown eyes shining brightly.

"If that's alright with Kain." Matt turns back to me, having looked over his shoulder at Thomas when he spoke, that same adorable smile on his lips. He's forgiven me now.

"Yeah, so no slacking in your training tomorrow. Don't overdue it either, we need to reserve some strength for the main event." I smirk, and a fang sticks out, everyone's eyes gleam with happiness. "We'll pick out who should battle who tomorrow when the time comes, for now let's enjoy the rest of our free day. Chief, you need to sleep tonight." Victor nods to me his understanding, all eyes still on me.

I feel better now, having come back to my senses. My team has never let me down, but I was fixing to let them down and I feel guilty for that but as long as they stick by me, I know we'll get through this. Dimitri has no idea what kind of hell he just sent his team to, with that thought my smirk grows and both fangs stick out. Everyone's all smiles now, knowing that look all too well and we pull our hands to the center of the table.

"We got this!" Victor goes first.

"You bet!" Stella goes next.

"They won't know what hit them!" Thomas cheers.

"We're not the champs of Japan for nothing." I go next, placing my hand over Thomas's.

"We're behind you all the way, Kain." Matt's hand covers mine and he turns to me and smiles, I smile back and nod to him.

My team, my family, will always stick by me now matter what. We have a bond, no matter how many times we argue and bicker and break up. They'll always be there for me, and I'll always be there for them. Hope your team is ready Dimitri, because your team is going down tomorrow!


	5. Chapter 5

**Italics are them speaking Russian.**

* * *

 **Kyra's POV**

 _"Wait, what do you mean we're battling Kain's team tomorrow?"_ I snapped, shooting up from my seat in the cafeteria and glaring down at Sven.

 _"Hey, it's not me you should be glaring at."_ Sven sighed, side eyeing Dimitri.

 _"It was you who challenged them?!"_ I exclaimed, directing my glare towards him. This was out of character for Dimitri. He was never one to challenge anyone, only doing his blading in tournaments or against us.

 _"I'm sorry…I just got irritated by his cocky attitude and he challenged me, and I just agreed and…I'm sorry."_ Dimitri spilled, putting his head down on the table.

 _"It's fine."_ I sighed _. "It just would've been nice if you would've consulted with me before doing it."_

 _"I can call it off if you want? I mean, I did do it behind your back."_ He frowned, his lavender eyes showing how bad he felt.

 _"No if you did that it makes it look like we're scared. We aren't the five-time champions of Russia for no reason. We all, especially you, have a reputation to uphold. The battle will happen as planned. We'll spend the rest of today training, have our training tomorrow with that coach and then do the battle."_ I stated, taking my seat again and going to sip my coffee.

 _"It's going to be a piece of cake. They may be nice but there's a reason we haven't heard of them before."_ Sven scoffed. Regardless who he was friendly with, when it came to blading he was as ruthless as we were, especially when his ego came into play.

 _"We can't underestimate them. Just because we haven't heard their team name before, doesn't mean they aren't good bladers here. Not all good bladers compete at the world champion level. I mean, we haven't yet."_ Dimitri warned.

" _Yeah Dimitri is right. As much as I don't want to say it, that kid and his team may be good. We've never lost, and I don't plan on that happening tomorrow."_ I agreed.

 _"So, it's settled. Tomorrow after lunch we add another win under our belts."_ Sven smirked.

* * *

I had met a lot of strange people in my life. I mean, Dimitri's fathers were pretty odd, but no one was as strange as Brooklyn Masefield. He was a tall ginger haired man, probably a year or two younger than my dad. He was thinner, moved around in a graceful matter and for some reason, was dressed in all white pants and a long sleeve shirt even though we were in the woods and it was hot.

"Team Blitzkrieg, welcome. I am pleased to see the Blitzkrieg team continue on." He smiled calmly at the three of us.

The three of us looked at each other, all looking just as confused as the other. Why did this guy sound like a children's show narrator?

"Now, it seems we have all of our members accounted for. Shall we begin with our first training seminar?" He asked in a soft, monotone voice.

There was already a small group of bladers in the clearing, a team of five with two individual bladers, and a couple of dishes spread out within it as well. Everyone looked equally as confused as we did.

"Our first lesson of the day is going to be on defense. Part of the reason the ten of you have been assigned to me is due to the fact you're all aggressive or offensive bladers. Although this gives you power, a good defense is necessary in order to be a truly successful beyblader. Not having defensive skills could easily cost you a match if you're not careful." He explained, his teal eyes scanning over the crowd. "We will begin with some two on two matches and I will observe your styles and interject some good defensive strategies that you can easily blend in with how you already blade."

Naturally Sven took it upon himself to break away from our team, approaching one of the individual bladers to pair up with. As usual Dimitri and I kept to ourselves, walking over to a dish and getting ourselves ready to compete. This would be an interesting practice, especially since Dimitri hadn't played defensively a day in his life. He was a smart blader, always being able to figure out the best way to win a match, but compared to me he knew very little defensive strategy. Thankfully my dad had taught me a bit of defensive moves with Dranzer, but brushing up on these skills would be beneficial for me as well.

The two of us took our launching stance, starring at each other with a smirk before launching our blades into the dish.

"Go Wolborg! You know what to do." Dimitri shouted, his blade charging after mine.

I smirked, having my blade swerve in the other direction to avoid his. We may know each other's moves and styles, but it didn't mean we knew how the other would choose to sequence things. I then let out a powerful attack, sending Wolborg flying before Dimitri even realized.

"Hey!" Dimitri frowned, looking up at me with narrowed eyes.

I stuck out my tongue playfully, having my blade circle the dish. "We're supposed to be playing defensive, remember?"

"She is right Dimitri. Your attack and logic may be powerful, but having a good defense will make you unstoppable. That's part of where your fathers went wrong in their days. Always left themselves wide open." Brooklyn mused as he walked over.

"How did you know our fathers?" Dimitri asked, looking over at Brooklyn with a brow raised.

"Oh, I just saw them here and there in tournaments is all." He brushed off, turning his focus back to the dish. "Now, let us work on your defensive strategies."

By the end of the practice we'd gotten in a couple of good battles, Dimitri adapting to his new defensive styles enough to beat me a couple of times. Of course, this was also without the use of our bitbeasts, something we were trying to conserve the energy of until our match with Kain's team.

"He may be strange, but Brooklyn knows how to coach at least. Never knew how much I was leaving myself open to attacks." Dimitri spoke as we hiked back to the cafeteria.

I nodded, a cigarette in between my lips as the three of us conversed.

"I know, right? You wouldn't think that someone who seems so out there would be so good at teaching strategy. Now we can add these moves to our battles after lunch. I have to admit, I'm so ready to actually compete against someone. Kind of hoping they're good so it'll be an interesting match." Sven joined in.

I had to admit, it was a bit of a rush to not know how good our opponents are. We were so used to facing the same group of people that any new competition was more than welcomed.

The three of us took our normal seats in the cafeteria, placing our trays full of salad, chicken and rice in front of us.

" _So, what order are we going in? It's a best of three match I'm assuming so we're all going to blade, but we still need an order."_ Sven asked.

" _Well no doubt their captains are going to battle. I'm assuming Kain will go last since he was the one who accepted the challenge. What about you, Dimitri and then I go?"_ I suggested.

Dimitri nodded. " _I think that would work. I did challenge Kain though. Shouldn't I be the one to battle him?"_

I shook my head, crossing my arms _. "No. I want to see if he's as tough as he talks. Plus, that's what they'll expect. Let's change things up a bit."_

I looked over to Kain's table, seeing him make eye contact with me then motion over to the door. Looks like the challenge starts now. Both teams stood up, exiting the cafeteria and heading into the woods where some of the Beyblade dishes were.

We approached a giant dish, Kain's team standing on one side while mine stood on the other. A short red-haired boy stood in between both teams, seeming to take the referee stance of these battles.

"Alright so it's a best of three match. Standard BBA rules go, the one who gets knocked out of the dish first loses. Doesn't matter if you're still spinning, you have to be in the dish to still be in the game. We have the Bladebreakers against…" He began to explain, pausing when it came to our team's name.

"Blitzkrieg." I stated.

"Right! The Bladebreakers against Blitzkrieg. Can I have our first bladers step up to the dish?" The boy asked.

A boy with dark-brown hair held in a pony tail over his shoulder and brown eyes, with a backwards baseball cap on his head walked up to the dish. A confident grin rested on his face. Sven followed suit, walking up to the dish with a smirk.

"Alright Sven, get this over with quick." I commanded, crossing my arms across my chest.

"You know I always do." He smirked back at me, getting into his launching position.

"You may be used to winning, but you stand no chance against me and my Dragoon!" The boy exclaimed, getting into his own launching position as well.

Dragoon? I remember hearing about that bitbeast from Dad a long time ago.

"Bladers, launch on 3, 2, 1…" The ginger boy counted down.

"Let it rip!" The Dragoon wielder yelled, launching his blade quickly into the dish.

Sven grunted, launching Seaborg into the dish as well. The two blades circled each other at first, both waiting to see who would make the first attack.

"Dragoon, attack!" The boy yelled, his blade charging right for Seaborg.

Sven smirked as his blade jerked out of the way of Dragoon, coming back around to slam the blade.  
"Hey!" The boy pouted, keeping his focus on his blade.

The battle continued on for a bit longer, the two blades managing to get in some good attacks before it became obvious that Sven was getting bored.

"Alright, this is getting boring. Seaborg, finish this!" Sven commanded, his whale bitbeast coming to life.

Kain's team starred in awe as Sven's bitbeast rose out of his blade, it being a massive beast compared to others.

"Oh no you don't. Dragoon, Galaxy Storm!" The boy yelled.

As Dragoon rose out I felt my mouth open in shock. One of the four sacred bitbeasts, just like my Dranzer was. A giant hurricane started to form, causing Sven's blade to falter and Seaborg to start to fade.

"That's the way Dragoon! Keep going!" The boy commanded.

"Sven, hang in there!" Dimitri yelled.

It wasn't long before Seaborg was carried away by the hurricane, getting dropped outside of the dish.

"And the winner is, Thomas!" The ginger boy cheered.

Well, that wasn't how I expected the first match to go. Kain's team cheered, surrounding Thomas and Sven picked up his blade and walked back to us with a scowl.

"I'm sorry guys. I over estimated him." He sighed, looking at the ground in disappointment.

"It's alright. Next time just make sure you go into a match with a clear head, not having any judgements towards the person you're blading. Just because someone may not seem that great, doesn't mean they can't knock you out of the dish." I explained, giving him one of my rare soft smiles.

He nodded, returning the smile. "That kid was pretty good. Dimitri, you may have your work cut out for you."

Dimitri smiled, clutching Wolborg in his hand. "I'll do my best."

After gaining some composure, the ginger boy who I'd overheard referred to as Victor took his place in between the two teams again.

"Time to start the second round. Can I have both bladers approach the dish?" He asked.

I wasn't surprised when Matt stepped forward, a look of determination burning in his eyes.

"You've got this, Matt!" Kain yelled with a grin.

Dimitri stepped forward, letting out a deep breath as he took his launch position.

"So, Matt against Dimitri? Ready to start in 3, 2, 1…" Victor counted down.

"Let it rip! Go Draciel!" Matt cried, launching his blade to automatically start circling the dish.

Dimitri launched, having Wolborg begin to chase Draciel around the dish. It was obvious Dimitri was taking no time in trying to end this match after our first loss.

"You can't knock me out that easily. Draciel, Heavy Viper Wall!" Matt shouted, his bitbeast rising out of his blade, looking just as magnificent as Dragoon did. How did this team have two sacred bitbeasts?

With his defensive shield up, Dimitri was having a hard time even touching Matt's blade, all of his attacks bouncing back whenever he tried. It was obvious Matt was getting an advantage and by looking at Dimitri's face, he was getting angry fast.

"That's it. I was trying to take it easy on you but obviously you won't let me do that. Wolborg, Novae Rog!" He commanded, his eyes narrowing as he called out his most deadly attack.

It had been so long since I'd seen Dimitri call upon this attack that I forgot how frightening it could be. Wolborg rose up, giving off the image of a Siren like woman before showing the true terror of the wolf bitbeast he was. He bit over Matt's blade, turning it into a flying ice cube before smashing it out of the dish completely, pieces flying off as it dropped.

All of us starred in shock as the blade's pieces flung to the ground, all of our attention turning to Matt as he walked up to his broken blade. The body was still intact, but the attack ring was broken beyond repair.

"No…" Matt murmured, starring at his blade in pieces on the ground.

Dimitri caught Wolborg in his hand, turning to face us with a blank expression. Dimitri was normally so calm and collected but when he bladed he became very serious and calculated. It was rare that he called about his Novae Rog attack, one he normally only called out of anger and frustration. I knew he hated losing and obviously from this battle he felt threatened.

"Damn Dimitri, did you have to go that hard on him?" Sven frowned, looking over at Matt as his team crowded around him.

"We had to win." He answered bluntly.

"Dimitri, I have to agree with Sven. That was too much. I understand you never lose, but his blade is in pieces now." I narrowed my eyes at him. As much as I loved and cared for Dimitri, this was the only side of him I hated. His level of competitiveness could be too much sometimes.

"Go win your battle." He said, ignoring my comment as he took his place beside Sven once again.

I sighed, knowing I wasn't going to get through to him until after this battle was over. "Whatever. This conversation will continue after this match."

Victor came in between the two teams again, a frown on his face as he looked at our team. "I guess that means we're onto the final round. Bladers, take your positions."

I made my move first, walking with my head held high and taking my stance in front of the dish. Like I had assumed, Kain came up with a nasty glare on his face, getting into battle stance as well.

"You're going to pay for what Dimitri did to Matt's blade." He snarled, his eyes looking almost cat like as they glared at me, his 'fangs' barred.

"Give me all you've got." I snapped back, getting Dranzer ready for launch.

After the count down the two of us launched, our blades immediately colliding with one another in vicious battle. It was obvious we were both offensive bladers by the way we kept hitting each other head on, neither of us letting up on our attacks. It wasn't till our bitbeasts came out that I really knew what I was messing with.

"Driger! Tiger claw attack!" Kain yelled, the mighty White Tiger making its grand entrance.

I never thought I would see the other sacred bitbeasts in real life until this day. My father had told me stories, only showing me the pictures within story books for me to really get an idea of what these beasts had looked like. When I was a child I thought that this was all just make believe, until Dad passed on Dranzer to me. That was the day I knew that the sacred bitbeasts were real and realized my goal of wanting to see them all in real life. I didn't think I would succeed at this in one full day though.

"Don't even think about it. Dranzer, Flame Saber!" I called, my fiery phoenix coming to life from its bit.

As the two beasts rose from their blades, it was obvious something was off. Neither one was attacking, just circling around the other. Why weren't our blades listening to us?

"Dranzer, what are you doing? I said, Flame Saber!" I yelled, my eyes narrowing as my bitbeast continued to disobey my commands.

"Driger, listen to me! Do your Tiger Claw Attack!" Kain growled, obviously feeling just as much frustration as I was. His pupils restricting thinner in his anger.

It took a bit more yelling before our two blades collided, both getting shot out of the dish and landing at the same time.

"It's…a tie?" Victor questioned, looking between Kain and I in confusion. "I guess we need a tie breaker?"

Both teams looked confused, Matt and Thomas looking from Driger to Kain with a shocked look as Dimitri and Sven both gave me a 'what the hell was that?' glare.

Kain picked up his blade, shooting a glare in my direction. "We're battling again." With that he tugged off the white scarf he had been wearing, dropping it and it hit the dirt ground with a hard thud. I could hear his team gasp behind him, all eyes wide.

I nodded, picking up my blade and giving it a good hard look. 'Dranzer, you need to listen to me. You've never failed me before. I don't know what you were doing with Driger back there, but you need to win this for us. I believe in you.' I thought, the warmth of my bit glowing against my hand in response.

"Both bladers ready again?" Victor asked as the two of us got into launching position once again.

Our blades flew into the dish again, this time starting to circle the dish instead of colliding. I had to admit, this kid was talented. He had a lot of speed, dodging away before I could even land a hit on him. I looked up, seeing he was smirking a bit, obvious that he was going to try and land in a big hit.

"Driger, Gatling Claw Maximum!" He cried as Driger came to life with lightning and thunder once again.

I started to panic, having my blade move as far away from Driger as I could before calling on my end all move that Dad had recently taught me. "Dranzer, Blazing Gigs Tempest!"

A flurry of red phoenix feathers littered the dish, poking into each open terrain before they all bolted towards Driger. The feathers shot into Kain's blade, causing a small explosion with smoke beginning to form. As the smoke cleared it was revealed that Driger had stopped spinning while Dranzer continued to spin, but just barely. I was so close to losing that match if I hadn't have called upon my most powerful attack.

"And the winner is Kyra, making the overall winners, Blitzkrieg." Victor announced in a frown.

Kain stood there in shock, his red eyes wide as he looked from his blade to me. "I-I never lose…"

I called back my blade, giving him a slight look of sympathy. "If it makes you feel better, I've never even came that close to losing."

He glared at me, picking up his blade and turning his back. "Hn, if it's the same to you we'll battle again. What Dimitri did to Matt's blade won't go unpunished, you can count on that." He picked his scarf up and walked back to his teammates, still mostly huddled around Matt.

I shrugged, turning back to my team to see the two boys giving me uncomfortable looks. It was obvious neither one of them was happy with how close that match came. I sighed, knowing I had a lot of explaining to do for whatever happened out there. The thing was, I didn't even know what happened. Why didn't Dranzer listen to me?


	6. Chapter 6

**Once again the writing is split between me and Misfit, as she writes for Kyra and Kai while I write for Ray and Kain.  
We did a time skip, the first month of the camp has pretty much come to a close where they have one month left. We decided that it'd be best to get a glimpse of what's been going on with their father's since the kids have been gone. Since this is still a Kai and Ray fic in the end.  
Thanks to those who have checked this out, reviewed or followed, we hope you enjoy this as much as we are writing it. **

* * *

**Kai's POV**

It was only eleven in the morning and I had already been in two phone meetings, spoke to countless vendors over the phone and had to fix two major manufacturing problems with Bryan. The whole month Kyra had been gone it had been like this, one problem after another with work never letting up. Thankfully she wasn't here since I had barely been home in the past few weeks and she would've had my head for that.

I partly hadn't been home cause of work, but mostly due to the fact that without Kyra present the house felt empty and lonely. When she was there she'd fill the house with her and her friend's laughter, music playing on her speakers in her room, her watching TV when I got home from work, or just cooking in the kitchen at random times in the day. Without anyone in the house it felt far too quiet, the silence being almost suffocating. It reminded me far too much of my childhood and teen years, something I did not want to relive.

My desk phone shrieked out a ring yet again, causing me to sigh and pick it up immediately just to get it to shut up. "Zdravstvujtye?" I answered dully.

"God Dad, you'd think you'd be more excited to hear from your daughter. Not even a hi? Just a formal Russian hello?" Kyra's voice grumbled over the phone.

I smirked, recognizing my daughter's sass. "Sorry Kyra, I didn't realize it was you calling. I've been on business calls all morning and thought it was another person calling to tell me I need to fix something."

"Nope, it's just me. We're on dinner break so I thought I'd call to check in. How are you doing without me?" She asked.

I eased in my chair, trying to lay off the stress I was under so I could enjoy my first conversation with my daughter since two weeks ago. "Things are alright. The house is a bit quiet, so I've been spending a lot of time over at Bryan and Tala's. Work has picked up, but it should be back to normal by the time you come back."

"It better be. By that point I won't have seen you for two months, you better not spend the whole first week I'm back at work. Oh, how are Uncle Bry and Uncle Tala?" She scolded, her tone turning to curious when Tala and Bryan got brought up.

"They're fine. Bryan has been helping me fix manufacturing issues while Tala has been throwing himself into HR work to distract himself from Dimitri being gone. How are you doing? How are Dimitri and Sven?" I asked.

"Oh god. Sven is fine but don't even get me started on Dimitri." She groaned, letting out a long sigh after.

"What happened? I thought things were fine last time I'd checked in?" I frowned. It wasn't like Kyra to be complaining about Dimitri. The two of them had been extremely close since they were three and had only ever had one falling out, when Kyra had dumped a bucket of sand on his head at age five. She had apologized, and he'd stopped crying after a bit, but that was the only time they'd ever had a problem between them. At least that I was aware of.

"Well I told you how Dimitri randomly challenged this guy to a battle, then in said battle he broke someone's blade and after that he didn't even acknowledge he did something wrong, right?" She clarified.

"Yeah you told me that. Has it escalated from there?" I questioned.

"Unfortunately. I gave the other team some parts to fix the blade Dimitri broke and I apologized, but when I tried to get him to apologize he wouldn't which caused me to get mad at him and not talk to him for a few days. Now he's been acting all hurt by that for the past few weeks, acting like I was choosing that team over him. I was just trying to make him understand that doing that isn't okay. I know he's competitive but that was just uncalled for to me, especially when it wasn't a serious match." She explained, her tone sounding more frustrated as she spoke.

"Hmm…sounds like things have been tough on the two of you." I commented.

"Well if that isn't bad enough, the team we beat had a few members have to sit out due to injuries and getting sick, so they got switched to be under Brooklyn with us. It's made it even more awkward to the point that I train alone half the time since the other team hates our guts and Dimitri refuses to train with me. I think right now Sven is the only one enjoying himself." She sighed.

"I'm sure things with Dimitri will blow over soon. Knowing how his fathers are, he's probably just putting on a show for you to feel bad and forgive him. The amount of times Tala has done that to me is a bit shocking." I explained.

"Yeah I guess…" She murmured. It was rare to hear her like this, sounding almost defeated. Normally Kyra was either sarcastic or determined so hearing her down like this had me concerned.

"Do you want to come home? You know I wouldn't mind you coming back early. If you're not having a good time you can come home." I offered.

"No. I want to stick it out. We came here to train and that is what I am going to do, regardless if the rest of my team isn't. I want to be a better blader and get to the world championships and this is one step in doing that." She insisted, her normal determined attitude coming back.

"That's the Kyra I know." I smiled, looking down at my computer to see several messages from Bryan telling me to call him. "Looks like I'm going to have to cut this call short. Bryan seems to need me to get in touch with him about something important."

"Aw okay. I'll try and call you later in the week if things aren't too busy." She responded.

"Alright sounds good. Bye sweetheart, I love you."

"Love you too. Hope you're not getting into too much trouble." She laughed, obviously still not over the men I had been bringing over before she had left.

"Tell me why I miss you again?" I sighed, holding my hand to my forehead.

"Bye Dad!" She chirped, the line going dead.

The evening was spent how I'd normally been spending them since Kyra had left, with Tala and Bryan drinking whisky over dinner. The three of us had stayed close over the years, them being the only people I had really trusted with my thoughts and with Kyra after Ray and I had split up. The two of them could be a bit much at times, but they were the only people who knew everything I'd been through and could remotely understand it.

"So apparently Kyra and Dimitri are in a fight." I brought up, causing Tala's head to perk up from his dinner.

"Yeah he'd told me. Just a lovers spat is all." Tala brushed off.

I almost choked. "Wait, what?"

"Yeah probably just a little jealousy fight. Sounds like some guy was flirting with Kyra and Dimitri tried to put him in his place from what I heard." Tala said casually.

"No, I mean what did you mean by 'a lovers spat'?" I insisted. I didn't even know Kyra was dating anyone, let alone Dimitri. "Are Dimitri and Kyra dating?"

"Oh god no. Dimitri hasn't had the guts to say anything and it seems your daughter hasn't made any moves either. Have you not noticed our kids are interested in each other?" Tala asked with a smirk.

"No. Since when?" I glared.

"I don't know, since they hit puberty? Seriously Kai, how blind are you? They make puppy love eyes every single time we're all together. That one-time Kyra was dating that random guy Dimitri didn't speak to her for months." He explained.

Bryan smirked, shaking his head at the conversation.

"You knew too?" I grimaced.

"Only because Dimitri won't shut up about her. Your daughter has caused quite the infatuation for our son." Bryan commented.

"Great…I was hoping I wouldn't have to worry about her dating after that rich brat." I scowled.

I'd only had to really worry about Kyra dating once. She'd started dating this guy, Tristan, just after she turned sixteen. I'd never liked the guy. He was the son of a lawyer that Spencer worked with, meaning he came from big money and wasn't shy about bragging about it. Not really sure what Kyra saw in him but the whole idea of her dating made me extremely uncomfortable. She was my little girl and even though I knew she'd destroy a guy if they ever hurt her, I still didn't like the idea of some guy having his hands all over my daughter.

"Well I wouldn't be too worried if I were you. I mean, our kids have known each other their whole lives. I think the two of them together would work well." Tala mused.

"What happened to my kid who thought boys were gross and dumped sand on your kid's head for trying to kiss her on the cheek?" I grumbled.

"Hormones Kai, that's what happened. Honestly, I'll be amazed if they ever get together though. Dimitri is too worried about ruining his friendship with her to make a move and she just has never made any indication to him that she's interested. It's been going on like that for years." Tala tried to reassure me.

I sighed, throwing my head back. "Why couldn't our kids just stay innocent forever?"

* * *

 **Ray's POV**

Too bright of a light coming through the glass doors is what wakes me, even though I'd rather sleep wrapped in these heavy blankets. Alas though, I have to get up now and finally turn my phone on. Gabe is still asleep beside me, his back turned to me and the blinding morning sun. Slipping out of the bed is easier than most would think, being part cat has its advantages, and I'm able to make it to the hotel dresser without making a sound.

Just as I fish out my phone, the one I've kept off for these past three weeks, my ears perk and Gabe's rolling over. I don't have to look back to know he's watching me, phone clutched in my hand as it's slowly turning back on.

"What'd I say about no phones?" He mumbles, the sound of sleep caught in his throat.

I sigh out, watching the screen light up with life. "I know what you said, I just have to check it."

"That ruins the whole point of a vacation dear." He sighs back, and I can hear him starting to come towards me.

"I know, and I've kept it off this entire month. I'm sure I've missed plenty of calls from Kain and the others by now. I'm just going to listen to the voicemails, make sure the restaurant hasn't called and it'll be off in a second." I plead to him, looking at him with the best damn pleading face I can muster.

"Kain is fine, the restaurant is fine. You shouldn't worry so much." He leans over and wraps his arms over my shoulders, resting his face in the crook of my neck.

I sigh out again, already my phone is pinging with messages and voicemails. Why did I agree to keep my phone off again? "I just have to make sure."

"Alright, fine." He huffs out, pulling away from me.

I don't bother to feel bad, it's not like I should anyways he's not the one with a teenager and trying to upstart an entire business. Already I have about forty messages from Tyson, all they say is that I should call him back as soon as I can. A few are from Max, saying the same thing and to get a hold of Tyson.

My heart stops, somethings happened to Kain and now I feel like a shit father. I have about three from Kain himself, mostly they consist of sarcastic remarks because he hasn't been able to reach me but his last one is a bit heart wrenching. Matt's blade was destroyed in a battle and now they're not talking and haven't been for the past two weeks, typical of those two in all honesty.

"I have to call Kain, I'll be right back." I call out in the middle of the hotel room, Gabe is already in the shower as I can hear the water, but I don't really care if he could hear me or not.

I step out through the glass doors out onto the patio, the ocean breeze and smell greets me as I step out. It's looking to be warm day today, even if the sun is hardly in the sky since it's only eight or so in the morning. I go down the list of names and find Kain's number, I'll have to call Tyson and Max back later otherwise I'll never hear the end of it from Gabe for the rest of my life. Sometimes that man acts like a child when he doesn't get his way, it's a bit embarrassing to say the least.

Before the line reaches it's fourth ring Kain picks up his end, he doesn't say anything, but I can tell he's rushing around through a crowd as I can hear the chatter in the background.

"Dad?!" He practically screams in my ear; the background noise is nowhere to be heard now.

"Hey, everything alright?"

"No! What kind of fucked up question is that? No, nothings alright!" He yells, and I can just picture him stomping around the camp grounds as he's yelling into the phone, so much like the father he doesn't know.

"Language Kain." I warn sternly, and he huffs out. "What's going on?" I change my tone for him, to let him know I am concerned for whatever's gotten him so wound up tight.

"Ugh, where do I start? Well, first day was nice and all. Met this girl, total bitch."

"Kain!" I warn again, barking out his name.

"Yeah, sorry. But she is. Anyways, second day is where it kind of started to fall apart. One your phone was off, care to tell me what that's about?" I roll my eyes at him, why do I have to explain myself to my son?

"Don't worry about that, just tell me what's going on."

He puffs out again. "Fine. Anyways, I got challenged to battle this girls team and in doing so Matt's blade got totally smashed. Victor's been working over time to fix it, and it's now just come along to where Matt can use it again. Through the rest of the past three weeks, he hasn't said anything to me because he blames me. I blame me. Then on one of our training sessions, Stella ended up twisting her ankle pretty badly, so they had to send her home. Thomas has a stomach bug, but he's still here but a bit out of commission. So that leaves me with Victor, who doesn't really blade as much as we do, and Matt who still won't talk to me. So, being down two players, we're being shifted from Tyson to Brooklyn now. That starts Monday."

"What's wrong with Brooklyn?" I can't believe I just asked that.

"This girl and her team are under Brooklyn, that's what's wrong!" He all but shouts at me, and I pull the phone away from my ear. My sense of smell maybe dulled, but my hearing is still well off.

"It sounds like you and this girl need to sort yourselves out, you and Matt… You know how he gets sometimes, lay off him a while alright? I know it's not going to be easy, but you need to give yourselves both some space." I offer, even though I haven't done much I already feel exhausted and lean against the railing of the balcony. So glad my teenage life wasn't as complicating as his, at some points that is.

"I don't know dad… I just… Nothings been right, not since I've been here." His shouting stops, and he sounds like someone just stole his favorite toy.

"It'll get better, you still have a month left. I promise it's not the end of the world, or the end of your and Matt's friendship. I know I probably didn't make it any easier having my phone off, and I'm sorry if that stressed you out." I offer again, and I do feel a slight tinge of guilt in me for doing that to him.

"I hope so… I don't know how much more I can take of this, to be honest. Why has your phone been off?"

"I told you not to worry about that, but look. I gotta go now, you gonna be alright?"

"Yeah, I'll figure it out…" He doesn't sound the least bit convincing.

"Kain, I promise you it'll be fine. You'll figure it out, it's all part of growing up." After giving my little pep talk I can hear the shower turn off, meaning I have to hang up now otherwise it'll just send Kain back over the edge with anger. "I have to go now son, I love you and I'll see you when you get back." I say rather quickly.

"Love you too dad. Bye." He still sounds down, but before I can add anything else to our conversation I hang up the phone just in time as Gabe steps outside with me.

"How's he doing?" Gabe asks, standing beside me as his fingers run through the back of my bedhead.

"Same old same old."

"You didn't tell him why your phones been off?" He raises an eyebrow, but there's a slight smirk on his lips.

"No, that wouldn't have helped anything." I shake my head, turning my phone back off since there's no messages from the restaurant.

"I don't see why he doesn't like me so much, what did I do wrong?" He feigns to sound offended, five years together has caused him to not care so much now though.

"Honestly, I don't know." I shake my head a bit, because I really don't know.

The two were just fine whenever Kain had to go into the ER for anything, but the second Gabe and I got together the two have always clashed. I would always pick my son over anyone, but since Gabe has actually never done anything to warrant the harassment Kain gives out I don't see why I should dump him. He's a great guy, to both of us, so I don't know what Kain's issue really is. I can see the disapproving looks from the others, but they've never said anything to me about it.

"Well, you should go take a shower and then we'll check out and head home." As he tells me this, he's already guiding me by the back into the hotel room.

I do as he says, grabbing a change of clothes before closing him out of the bathroom. I like to take my showers by myself, at least since I've left Kai, not to mention Gabe is just too tall to be able to fit into this small plastic shower with me as well. After I finished with my wake-up shower we packed our bags, and he checked us out of the hotel. The plan was to take me back home, but instead he took us to his place. For the most part I didn't mind, I didn't feel like having to deal with Max at the moment from not being able to get a hold of me the whole month.

Gabe's house will always be impressive to me, even if I lived in something grander while I was with Kai and my own home is rather impressive in its own right. Two stories, more western looking than Asian with a bit of Mediterranean vibes built into it since it's mostly an off tan in color with a rock wall for accent here and there. There's at least five or six steps that lead into the house off the front porch, the foyer is large and open where the ceiling is high since there's a landing to the second floor where you can see down into the foyer.

Once again, the entire color scheme is an off tan or cream, tiled through-out except for the bedrooms with a cream carpet. The stair case sits right in front of the front doors, the wall that sits behind the stairs open up into the living room to where Gabe's room sits on the right and the kitchen and walk way to the garage sits on the left.

There's a back porch from the living room, it's covered by the second-floor balcony. A pool sits out to the left of the kitchen, with its own walkway and half bath that divides the kitchen and garage. The kitchen is nice, it's a simple western styled kind that makes a U-shape with a bar that sits towards the dining table by the large ceiling to floor windows, giving you the perfect view of the lake outback and pool.

Every room is divided up by archways, so the flow of the floor plan is simple and doesn't get one lost on first arrival. There's four spare rooms upstairs, all decorated the same with the same color pallet as the rest of the house. Three of the rooms have their own on-suite, while the last two have to share one.

When we stay here, Kain takes the farthest room from Gabe's room, since it has its own private bath and looks out the back yard and at the lake. Normally his parents stay in the other with their own bath, but they haven't been here in a while since they live in Russia. I never knew I had a thing for Russians, but looking at my history it's apparent I do. At first, I didn't even realize Gabe was Russian, since he's only half and all, but it was still a bit of a shock when he told me.

Once we get our bags inside his room, he starts to unpack his things while I just pull out the ring box he presented me with two nights ago. Of course, I said yes, but I haven't worn the ring since he put it on that night. Obviously, no one knows, since my phone has been off this whole month, and I'm more than nervous to tell anyone about it. Especially my son, I know he's going to have a mental break down once he finds out.

"Would you like to stay till New Years? We can have the wedding in February, if you like." It took me a minute to realize that Gabe was even talking to me, having been starring at the box in my hands and thinking of ways to tell Kain.

"What?" My clever response to whenever I'm not paying attention, it's never failed me before.

"I was suggesting that you and Kain stay for the holidays, it's only a few months away. That way we can practice living together and all, and get married in February." He offers with his perfect teeth smile, something I've found I can never say no to. With Kai it was those damn eyes of his, Gabe it's his smile, since Kai wasn't really known for smiling.

"Sure, if that's what you want to do. I don't see a reason not to, that means Kain's going to be here for a few months. Can you handle that?" His smile widens in response to my words.

"He's gotta get used to me somehow."

"You'd think after eight years he would have by now, but I understand what you're saying… I don't mind, it sounds like a good plan… Why have the wedding so soon though?" I cock an eyebrow at him, damn habit from my ex.

"Do you want to push it back, we can?" He offers, but something tells me he wants it in February and I really don't have a valid reason not to have it then. The restaurant should be up and running by November, if there aren't anymore complications.

"No, that's fine. Are your parents coming for the holidays then?"

"Yeah, and they'll stay for the wedding." So that's why he wants it so soon, is what I'm guessing.

"Alright, I'll have to run back to my place and get some more clothes for Kain and me then." I stand, stuffing the ring box into my pants pocket.

His eyes follow my movements and he sighs out. "I can take that back, if you don't want it."

"No, I do. It's just… Probably not the best thing for Max to notice right away, since he hasn't been able to get a hold of me for a month." He seems to understand and just nods, I kiss him goodbye and slip out of his room.

I shouldn't be this nervous coming into my own home, but I am and even more so since Max is sitting at the bar in the kitchen. He swivels around the moment the front door is closed, his blue eyes are a mix of emotions as he locks onto me.

"So, you are alive." He bites out.

"Yeah… Sorry about that, Gabe's idea." I shrug a bit, just wanting to go upstairs to my room and gather extra clothes.

"Why am I not surprised?" He sighs out shaking his head.

"Look, I agreed to it so don't blame him all that much. It was supposed to be a vacation, so I turned it off." I shrug to him, I don't like the tone in his voice, but I can't really blame him. "I'll call Tyson when I get back to Gabe's, I already talked to Kain this morning."

"So, you know what's going on?" He asks as he spins completely around on his bar stool.

"Yeah, Kain explained it to me. I have to go get some clothes now for us, we'll be staying at Gabe's till New Year's." His eyes go wide at that, and he frowns.

"Care to tell me why?" His tone turns dark again.

"Um… Well… He asked me to marry him and I said yes, so we're going to spend the holidays together and test out how we live together. The wedding is planned for February."

"You can't be serious Ray!" Max shouts and stands up, his hair bounces around his face.

"I'm dead serious Max, I don't know what everyone's problem with Gabe is, but I love him, and you all just have to accept that." I stand my ground, still standing by the front door with my shoes still on.

"Did you tell Kain this?"

"No, I didn't need to put more stress on him right now. I'll tell him when he gets home, for now you're the only other one to know. Look, I'm not going to explain myself to you. I thought you were my friend."

"I AM your friend Ray, that's why I don't see what you do in Gabriel." He scorns, his hands are clenched to his sides, I honestly have never seen him this angry before even in our youth. The last time I remember him being this way was when I walked in on our sons, and we both had their heads that night.

"I've obviously missed the memo on why it's so important to hate my fiancé now. What has he ever done to anyone we know?" I manage to keep my tone down, even though I'm itching to yell back.

"He changed you! You cut your hair for him, now you turn your phone off for him. Whatever he says you just follow along, like it doesn't bother you and it's sickening. Honestly Ray, Kai may have been a bastard at times, but he would have never asked you to change yourself for him." That snaps the little bit of resistance I had holding me back, and my vision constricts out of anger and I bare my fangs at him, something I've never had to do to him.

"Don't bring him up, ever again! What I do, for Gabe or for myself is none of your damn business! Butt out Max, and tell everyone else to!"

"You've kept Kai and Kyra a secret from Kain all his life, don't you think he deserves to know them? Gabe doesn't even know they exist."

"You've never been honest with the twins either, so don't start." I butt in his words, and he clamps his mouth shut. "Just stop this Max, obviously this time apart will be good for us. Kain and Matthew as well, I'm not abandoning anyone I'm just getting married. I'm sorry you're not happy for me, but I am. Let me be happy for once, it's all I ask." I lower my tone again, we've been friends for so long we shouldn't let this break us apart. I don't want it to, I never wanted it to.

"I want to see you happy Ray, but you never look like you are with him… You're right, it's not my business so do what you want." He sighs and turns back to his bar stool, taking a seat on it.

"I'm sorry Max… I am happy." I finally move from my spot, taking my shoes off and placing them on the shoe rack to my right before heading upstairs to my room.

"If you say so…" I can hear him breathe out, even though I'm already halfway up the stairs now. I just shake my head and turn towards my room on the right of the stairs, forcing myself not to slam the door behind me.

Max and I have lived together since the kids were barely one, we've never been at each other's throats like this before and it's caused my limbs to shake. I did and didn't cut my hair for Gabe, sure he didn't like it long, but it has helped me keep it more manageable over the years.

I never disclosed to Kain that I was the one who gave birth to him, nor that he has a sister and another father out there somewhere. It saved me from having to relive the heartache all over again, and having to answer the questions I knew he would hound me for. He seemed content with the story I told him, Gabe was the same way and it just became easier that way. The others know not to ever mention them around Kain or Gabe, and thus far it's been easy to avoid bringing them up. I don't know if one day I will tell him, and I may never get the courage to tell him.

After gathering some more clothes in another suitcase I manage to drag it out of my room and down the stairs, Max is now pacing the space of the kitchen with a soda in his hands. Our eyes meet, and I can see the anger has died out in his eyes, as it has in mine.

"I'm sorry." We both start and then stop to laugh a bit.

"You first." He offers, so I nod to him.

"I shouldn't have said what I did about you and the twins, I know why you haven't, same with me. I'm sorry that you're not happy for me, but I still want you there with me."

"I will be, I wouldn't let you do that alone. I'm sorry too, it's not my business and you're right the time away should be good for us and the boys." He finishes with his signature smile and I offer him my own, fang and all.

A comfortable silence passes us as I push my suitcase up by the door, it's still there as I step around the space of the kitchen and the half wall that divides it from the rest of the first floor, walking the little space to the boy's room on the right.

Of course, it's a mess. Their beds not made, and clothes strewn about all over the floor. I have to step around the piles of clothes and books to even get to the closet around the corner of the wall, praying nothing falls out on top of me when I open it. I manage to come out unscathed, a new suitcase packed for Kain when he comes home.

Max and I give our usual goodbye hug and we part as friends once more, it'll be different not living with him for a few months. This will be the longest we've been apart since becoming housemates, but I know we need this and so do our kids. Especially after their last nasty break up, and now the trouble Kain's caused the whole team. Sometimes I wonder where his brain is, he certainly doesn't always use it even though he's an honor roll student.

By the time night rolled around, I had completely forgotten to call Tyson back. Figuring he needed to talk to me because of what Kain already told me, I didn't bother and just went to sleep. I had one more month without my son, the calm before the storm that he was sure to bring with him.


	7. Chapter 7

**Kain's POV**

If I thought my life could have spun out of control even more so than it already had, I was dead wrong. So, so completely wrong. What did I do to deserve this, that's all I'd like to know? The entire month of being here at this camp, one of my favorite places in the world, has become this black hole to me now all because of one stupid girl. Why did I find her attractive again, I'll never know. Sure, if it wasn't for her giving us some spare parts for Matt's blade Victor never would have been able to fix it properly. That still doesn't make this mess I've dug myself into anymore easier to get out of, Matt still won't talk to me even after another week has rolled on.

We were placed under Brooklyn, since now it's just us three guys left since Victor doesn't blade much. Brooklyn is a nice guy, he's pretty calm and collected so I never knew what he looked like when he was mad. That changed pretty quickly too, since my team couldn't get along with Kyra's team after the merger. Though that all wasn't MY fault completely, Dimitri's got some stick up his ass or something, and Kyra just looks like she'd rather be elsewhere. I still like Sven though, he's a nice guy all and all and he does good when he's paired with someone from my team to train with.

That's all we've been doing, training constantly and trying to keep the peace during our days off. Victor and Thomas look so lost, this is just as bad or worse than our last official break up. I don't even remember what it was we broke up over now, because certainly this takes the cake over that. Five weeks have since passed and I'm still getting the cold shoulder, sleeping alone has never been my strongest point but I've managed, barely.

I'd say my heart is breaking, but it's more of my pride and guilt that's weighing me down. It's not helped the other bundle of emotions that have surfaced as the months have rolled on, dad has been no help even though his phone is back on and we've talked a bit since. I don't think he understands though, sometimes I feel like a girl with all these damn mood swings and I hate it. Normally I'm pretty mellow, like my dad, I can be cross when I want to be or when the time calls for it, but now I'm crying and whining on a daily basis. Somethings I have never done before, on top of being a hormonal teenager who can't even get a simple snuggle at night. My life is perfect, isn't it?

"You ready?" I ask Matt, trying to get a response for once since his battle with Dimitri five weeks ago.

He doesn't answer, pulling his tank over his head and tying his brown jacket over his hips. His blue eyes bear down into mine and he tugs the sleeves once, a bit harder before storming out of our cabin. See, perfect. I just breathe out a sigh and grab my not-so-lucky scarf from the hook by the door before stepping out. I'm actually not all that bothered from losing to Kyra, yes it was my first lost since I've taken up blading, but it hasn't bothered me as much as trying to get Matt to talk to me again.

Outside Thomas is waiting for us on the ground by the end of our stairs, his trusty baseball cap on his head backwards. He's not wearing his signature smile and I notice something in his eyes, now what?

"What's wrong, where's Victor?" I ask, tying the back end of my scarf around my neck as I step down.

"He's gotten my stomach bug, so he's sitting out today on training." Thomas explains to me and I can only nod in response, Thomas's stomach bug lasted him a good two weeks which means Victor maybe out of commission till the end of the camp.

Something in the air catches my senses and I look up, the sky is a pretty blue and there aren't any clouds, but I can smell the rain in the air. "It's going to rain." I mumble out, but I don't think they heard me.

To prove my suspicions right they just walk away to the left opening of the wall in order to meet up with Brooklyn and the other team. I follow behind them, making sure to keep my eyes trained on the sky above us until I can't see past the canopy of trees.

"Glad to see you all could make it." Brooklyn starts as we come up to where he and the others are waiting for us, that simple smile on his lips but he doesn't close his eyes or tilt his head.

"Afternoon Coach." Thomas responds through a yawn, it's noon and he's still tired because he's still getting over his stomach bug.

"Today is going to be a different kind of training session, we're going to hike up the tallest mountain and do our training there." I can visibly see Kyra go paler at that, but she doesn't say anything.

"It's going to rain." I say again, starring at the sky that's still blue and devoid of any clouds.

Brooklyn humors me and looks up as well, Thomas and Sven look up with him then back at me. "Doesn't look like it." Brooklyn smiles to me, of course you would say that you can't smell it like I can.

"Maybe your sense of smell is getting out of whack." Thomas offers but I don't bother to respond.

"So, you six ready to go then?" Brooklyn smiles at me and we all nod, his other trainees were all sent over to Tyson so it's just us six, would have been seven if Victor wasn't sick.

He doesn't say anything as he turns his back to us, the other team shuffle around behind him and start to follow quietly. Thomas walks up beside Sven and they start to talk amongst themselves, I bring up the rear after Matt. Every part of me is screaming to reach out and pull him back so we can talk but I know he'd have none of that, so I don't bother to try.

Were we ever that serious to warrant these kinds of feelings? We never declared our love for each other, somehow, we just ended up together and it seemed to work for the most part, so we just never let go. I can't say I love him, but I know I care for him and I can't stand this distance he's put between us. If Stella was still here she would have locked us in a broom closet till we made up, she'd be pulling her hair out right now seeing how far we've fallen apart.

Through most of my inner turmoil I didn't even feel the burn in my legs from the hike until we stopped, when he said tallest mountain he meant it. Up here I can clearly smell the rain in the air now, even if there are still no clouds around for miles. I don't bother repeating myself to them, at least I brought my scarf incase it does rain. Matt has his jacket and Thomas has his hat and his over shirt, even if he isn't wearing anything under it at the moment. My team will be fine once the rain decides to come down, I can't say the same about Kyra's team though.

She's in a black tank with lace around her midriff, and black shorts and her black hiking boots. Her hair is pulled back out of her face, but there's nothing to stop her from getting cold from the rain. Dimitri is in a white tank and white cargo pants, with his white hiking boots. At least his legs will stay warm, but what's with all the white out here in the middle of the forest? Sven will probably fair better than either of them, he brought a jacket that's tied around his waist and he's got jeans on.

"Alright, now for the training schedule. You're all to stay up on this mountain and work on cardio, and muscle building for twenty minutes. You are to each do four sets of pullups and pushups and then run three laps. one down, one up, and one back down the trail we just came off of. I'll meet you all back at the bottom." Brooklyn finished his speech with his usual tilt of the head and closed eyed smile.

"Wait, that's a bit much!" Kyra shouted out, and I had to agree.

"It's a bit more than what I've been putting you all through, yes. But I wouldn't have come up with it if it didn't mean it was beneficial to you all." He smiles at her but that doesn't seem to have cooled her down, or any of us for that matter.

"Are we being punished or something?" Thomas whines out next.

"No, what would give you that idea?" Something in his tone tells me he's lying right through his teeth, and then his eyes fall on me. He is lying!

"Then why all the extra focus on strength, and why are you leaving us?" Dimitri asks next and his voice is rather cold.

"The extra focus is to help you clear your minds, look around you. This place is quite and serene, the perfect place to clear your heads. Don't think I haven't noticed the tension between everyone here, or the little battle you all had your first week here. This isn't punishment, this is to help you all overcome your problems and differences. I'm leaving so as not to stand as a distraction, I trust you all to do what I asked."

After his speech this time no one had anything to say, so we all just watched him walk back down the path we had come from. I looked back up at the sky, the smell of rain still strong in the air and now a cloud was slowly drifting overhead.

"Alright, we better start then." Kyra's voice brought me back to looking down at everyone around me, everyone nodded and spread out as far as we could from the other.

Cardio has never been my thing, it causes your arms to burn and if you do it wrong you can tear some very important muscles. I had to ditch the scarf after eight minutes of doing the pushups, my already screaming leg muscles couldn't handle the extra weight on my shoulders. Thomas ditched his hat and stuffed it under my scarf to keep it from blowing off the top of the mountain, Sven and Matt ditched their jackets.

By the time it was ready for us to do our first lap the clouds had moved in further, the air heavy with the smell of rain. I snatched up my scarf and gave Thomas his hat back, placing them back on we followed the others down the path.

"Maybe you were right Kain." Thomas puffed out beside me, we weren't even halfway down the mountain side yet when the wind got a bit colder.

"I told you…" I rolled my eyes at him and picked up my pace.

"We should keep going regardless, it may not rain at all." Thomas called back from behind me where I left him, and I had to agree slightly.

Brooklyn was right, doing these kinds of exercises were helping clear my head and I enjoyed being out here in the woods. I can't say the same for the others, but since there hadn't been a tension in the air around us for a while I can only assume they were feeling the same. To test my luck, I sprinted up next to Matt, he didn't bother looking at me as he was still focused on running.

"I'm sorry." I whispered out beside him, and his eyes shifted to look at me.

"I know." He replied. HE REPLIED! I made a break through, thank you Brooklyn you crazy man you.

"How… How you are feeling?" I tried again, maybe I am pushing my luck a bit too far since he didn't say anything back and picked up his own speed.

"Just give it some more time." Thomas said as he came up beside me, since I had slowed down some. "It's not like he can avoid you when you guys get home, right?" He offered with his signature grin and I nodded in response.

Thomas was right, and he was wrong. Matt wasn't above sleeping out in the living room just to avoid me, nor was he against sleeping in his father or sister's room since he had done so before. I was hoping to avoid all that though, both our father's knew what was going on and so did Stella. I wanted to get back on good terms with him before we had to go home, and we only had three weeks and a half left.

Once again, my legs were screaming at me as we made it to the bottom, everyone hunched over themselves gasping for air. Brooklyn wasn't down there, and I thought about just calling it a day since more clouds were starting to form up above us.

"That… That son… Son of a bitch!" Dimitri huffed, hands on his knees and his red hair falling around his face from coming undone during his run.

"S… Stop your… Bellyaching… It… It's not so bad…" Kyra offered, but I could see her arms and legs tremble as she was bent over in the same fashion as Dimitri. "God, I should stop smoking." She huffed, and my ears perked at that. I could always smell it on her, but I didn't think she did it, thinking it was one of the boys that caused her to smell like it.

Out of everyone I was the only one not hunched over, being part neko-jin gave me the extra stamina I needed to endure this. It didn't stop my muscles from protesting though, and I did feel the burning in my chest because of my own smoking habit.

"C'mon, we got two more and then we're done." I called out and only got groans in response, but they moved none-the-less.

This time I led them back up the path, having to by-pass the natural want to speed off ahead of them all and keep a slower pace. It wasn't until we were near the top of the mountain again did the first drops of rain hit my head, and we all stopped.

"Shit!" Everyone called out as the first drops of rain became more and more by the second, and we were already drenched.

"Gotta go back guys, lets go!" I called and whirled around, the water soaking into my already weighted scarf just added to the pressure on my back and shoulders.

Nobody seemed to protest and turned on their own heels back to the path, when a loud thunder clap sounded not too far off and it shook my ear drums. Instinctively I clamped my hands over my ears, barely dulling out the second one. With my already aching body and now the ringing in my ears I faltered a bit and fell to my knees, the rain was coming down harder around us and it was cold.

"Kain, you alright?" Thomas rushed back up and hauled me to my feet, my pant legs soaked in mud.

"Too loud!" I called back, my hands not leaving my ears.

"What's wrong with him?" I could hear Sven call out a bit a head of us, the other's pausing to wait for me to gather my bearings.

"Is he scared of thunder?" Dimitri asked next, but I could hear the sarcasm in his tone.

"That's stupid, his bitbeast controls lighting." Thomas responded, his level of sarcasm matching Dimitri's.

"Guys, I'm fine we have to go now." I spoke clearly, uncovering my ears now.

Through all the rain it was getting harder to see, the clouds that had rolled in blocked most of the sun and it didn't help with all the tree canopies hanging over us. It looked like night had fallen, being the only one able to really see clearly, I took the lead again until another clap of thunder echoed around us, much closer and it took me down. My hands back over my ears, my eardrums felt like they were on fire and about to burst. Damn my neko-jin curse, I'd have been fine living without it.

"What now?!" Kyra huffed out, coming up beside me.

"He just can't handle the sounds, that's all." Matt offered, then kneeled down beside me a hand coming onto my soaked through shirt. "Get on Kain, you can keep your ears covered if I carry you." He didn't have to tell me twice and I jumped on his back as quickly as I could, placing my hands back over my ears the second we were both comfortable enough for him to run.

The rain wasn't letting up, the thunder claps were barely dulled by just my hands and we were all tired and worn out from having trained previously. The dirt turned to mud, wet slippery mud and most of the others faltered and tripped in it. Another loud crack of thunder echoed around us and then the sound of a tree falling, the sky had lit up as the lighting had clashed into the earth and we paused. Sven had to help pull Thomas to his feet, after he slipped again in the mud.

"That better not have blocked our path." Thomas scorned out, adjusting his cap back on his head after wiping the mud from it.

"Only one way to find out, keep moving!" Matt hollered over another bright flash and clap of thunder, adjusting my weight on his back before taking off again.

Sure, enough a tree was now laying before us, and it wasn't a small tree either. A large oak with branches every which way laid stuck in the mud across our path, the rain still beating down on us.

"We can just cut through that with our blades." Thomas started to load Dragoon, stepping up to the mammoth of a tree.

"It'll just get stuck in the mud." Dimitri stopped him, placing a hand on Thomas's shoulder as he too stepped up to the tree. "It's too tall to climb over and wet, we have to find another way around it. We can't risk falling off of it and breaking bones, we're not even halfway down this damn path."

"He's right, we have to go around. There's a path not even a mile back, we'll take that one." I called out over Matt's shoulder, and everyone who had walked up to inspect the tree turned back to us.

"That's one of the paths that are blocked, isn't it?" Thomas's face paled a little, and I nodded.

"I've been down it before, we'll be fine." I answered but I could tell they still weren't happy with that bit of information.

"Dude, you can't even walk right now." Thomas reminded me.

"I can still lead you all, but you all have to trust me. Everyone has to." I made sure to stare pointedly at Kyra and her team, they exchanged looks before turning back to me.

"Alright, it's not like we have much of a choice anyways." She shrugged, and I smirked at her, fang and all.

"Let's go then. I can try and walk on my own now." I called out and then whispered to Matt.

"Another lightning strike can render you completely useless, keep your ears covered." He said as he readjusted my weight once more on his back, then turned and started back up the path to the other one.

We reached the blocked off path, a simple sign and rope had never stopped me before and it wasn't stopping the others now as they all climbed over it onto the other side. Already the trees were closer together, but we had to be quick around here because of the lightning. The path was narrower, as it sat on the side of the mountain. One wrong step and someone could go over the edge to the rocky bottom, it didn't help that the ground was slick mud and the trees made it almost impossible to keep two feet on the ground at all times.

"Thomas, don't put your foot there!" I called out, but it was too late.

His hand slipped from around the tree he was trying to use to shimmy himself around the edge of the path, the mud made his feet slip out from under him and the side gave out from his weight. The air seemed to still for a second, I could have jumped and saved him, but I was still on Matt's back. A pale hand jutted out from around the other side of the tree, catching Thomas's wrist.

"Don't just hang there, help me pull you up!" Kyra called, I couldn't see her past the tree, but I could see it was her arm that had grabbed Thomas from falling to his death. She had been fast in catching him, really fast.

Matt and I released a breath of air from our lungs as Thomas was pulled back up, he was now being blocked by the tree where the others were standing. "That was close." I managed, my voice shaking.

"And you've used this path before, did you now?" Matt shifted again, and I just offered him a coy smirk. He stepped up the tree blocking our path, and I could tell he was thinking of ways to get us both around it.

"You can't carry us both around that, let me down." I squirmed a bit and his hold got tighter.

"If another lighting strike hits while you're trying to get around that, you'll fall next. Just sit still, I have to think about this." He paused for a second, eying the tree and the small space where his feet would barely fit. "Sven!" He called around the tree and Sven's blonde head poked around the other side.

"Yeah?" He looked a bit lost, his blue eyes blinking through his soaked blonde bangs.

"I'm going to have to pass Kain to you, can you catch him?" CATCH?!

"Yeah, I'll try." TRY?!

"Thanks." Matt released his hold from around my legs and pulled me around to face him, our eyes locked for a second before I could feel my legs lift from the ground again and he swung me around the side of the tree.

I won't lie, I screamed. I screamed like a little girl on a roller coaster, the tree to my back and the rocky pit below me. I only stopped screaming when Sven caught me, dangling me up in the air over the edge. The other's were laughing, rolling at my expense. Damn these giants and me only being five-eight!

"Nice catch Sven!" Matt called out and I watched him shimmy around the tree, making sure to pass over the broken part of the ledge.

"It's a good thing you're pretty light." Sven offered me back to Matt, like a small child. My feet still dangling over the ground, I crossed my arms at them and scowled. I scowled so hard my pupils turned to slits, and all they did was laugh at me.

"Sorry, was the only thing I could think of." Matt managed to say through his laughter, and I smiled. I had missed that laugh, and the way his blue eyes brightened, even if it was at my expense.

"What happens in the forest, STAYS in the forest. Am I clear?!" I scowled again, over Matt's shoulder after I climbed back on it.

"Don't worry, your secrets safe with me!" Thomas bellowed out, holding his gut.

"You happy now?" I whispered into Matt's ear, and I could feel him shudder under me. My hands were already back over my ears, so whatever he said was dulled out because he whispered it back to me.

"How much farther?" Kyra asked, wiping the tears and rain from her eyes.

"Not much, that was the only real obstacle in our way." I cracked another smile and the other's straightened up, following the path once more.

The rain was starting to let up a bit, or it could have been because the tree's blocked most of it all. The woods got denser, but our path was still open for us, and we were able to make it out alive where there was a line of coaches waiting for us at the bottom.

"Is anyone hurt? Kain are you alright?" Tyson called, running up to meet us after we pushed past the last line of trees.

"It's just the lighting and thunder dad." Thomas answered, getting wrapped into a tight hug by his father and then his uncle. "He got us out of there after a tree fell in the original path. Dad I can't breathe!" Tyson released his son quickly, allowing his son to breathe a bit easier.

"Why am I not surprised you would have been the one to know that path?" Hiro sighed out, keeping an arm around Thomas's shoulder.

"We're alive, aren't we? If anything, he saved our hides back there." Kyra snapped in and everyone turned to her, her hair was a mess and she glared hard at them. "No thanks to our coach or anyone else for that matter, Kain tried to warn us it was going to rain, but no one listened to him." She snarled, and her pupils shivered slightly.

"We didn't know it would rain, truly we didn't." Brooklyn stepped up from the line of coaches, looking rather sick and upset. "I didn't mean for you all to get hurt or anything, this wasn't any ones fault and I am glad to see you're all doing fine." He continued, but it didn't seem to have calmed Kyra down any.

"Whatever, I need a shower." She huffed and the quivering in her pupils stopped, she closed them and held a hand to her head as if she had a headache.

"I'm glad you guys are alright; all your father's would have my head. Kai and Ray especially." Kyra's head snapped back up and turned to Tyson, I looked at him a bit indifferently.

"Who?" I asked, Kyra turned to look at me as everyone turned to Tyson with a scowl. What now?!

"Kai is my father… But… That other name… Ray was it?" Kyra's voice trembled, I tapped Matt's shoulder and he let me down, so I could stand beside her. The rain barely a gentle pour now, the lighting hadn't struck in a while either.

"Ray's my father." I told her, and she turned back to look at me, everyone's eyes on us now.

"He… He's my father too… I think." She mumbled out, and with that everything went black.


	8. Chapter 8

**Kyra's POV**

I don't think I'd ever felt so physically and emotionally uncomfortable in my entire life. My hair and clothes were soaked, I was violently shivering from how cold I was, my body felt exhausted from the events of the afternoon, I had a pounding headache and most interesting of all, I think I just found out I have a brother. A brother that my father had never told me about, living with my other father that I hadn't seen or heard from in fourteen years.

After Kain had passed out Tyson and Matt had brought him to the infirmary while I had stormed off before anyone could say a word to me. I headed straight for my room, grabbing a towel before going in the showers to try and warm up again. I peeled my wet clothes off, stepping into the shower to let the hot water pour down on me. The showers were silent, everyone else holed up in their cabins because of the storm. The silence gave me time to process what I had just learned while also enjoying getting warm.

So, information that I knew, Kain is most likely my brother, my possible other father was the one who had raised him, and my father that I lived with had told me nothing about either of them for the past fourteen years of my life. The one thing I couldn't wrap my head around, why would Dad lie to me? We had always been totally honest with each other. He had answered most things I'd asked if I was old enough to understand them and I never hid anything from him. Well, everything except losing my virginity with that guy Tristan. Biggest mistake of my life, thus why I never told Dad. But him keeping my other father and brother from me? That was something too big for him to keep for no reason. There had to be some big underlying thing for him to keep something this big from me.

I sighed, massaging my shampoo through my long, black tresses. I just couldn't understand why my Dad, the most brutally honest person I knew, would keep this from me. Although I didn't want to admit it, it hurt a bit that my other father would keep Kain and not be in contact with me. Did Dad do something that made him want nothing to do with us? Did I? All of these thoughts just tired my already pounding head.

After rinsing out my hair I turned off the shower, wrapping myself in a fuzzy towel before stepping out to put on a pair of loose sweatpants and a t-shirt. My body was so exhausted from the training, along with the journey back to the camp that I ended up just going back to my room and collapsing in bed. My phone had multiple texts from Dimitri and Sven, a few from Dad and one missed call from him too. In an overwhelming fit of anger, I slammed my phone down on my bedside table and covered my head with my blankets, slowly drifting off to sleep after such an exhausting start to the day.

By the time I woke up it was already dark outside. It had finally stopped raining and it appeared that I had missed dinner. I slowly sat up in bed, picking up my phone to reveal it was already seven at night and I now had three texts and one missed call from Dimitri. I sighed, calling him back and placing my phone to my ear.

"What do you want?" I snapped as he picked up the phone.

"Meet me outside the girl's cabin." He stated, hanging up shortly after.

I groaned, throwing my sheets off of me and slipping on a pair of skate shoes to walk outside. I opened the door to see Dimitri standing at the end of the steps, holding one plate of pizza and another plate with a small slice of chocolate cake on it.

"I come in peace." He called softly.

I smirked, coming down the steps and taking the slice of cake from him. "Is this your way of saying you're sorry?"

"Well that, and the fact you missed dinner and I thought you'd be hungry. What happened to you anyways? I know we all got sent back to our cabins cause of the storm, but you had me worried by not answering." He frowned, his lavender eyes meeting my crimson for the first time in three weeks.

"Took a shower, contemplated the current mess that is my life, then fell asleep from all the contemplating. Only just woke up when I'd called you back." I said with a yawn.

He smiled softly, nodding towards a set of benches that were in the middle of two cabins and looked out on the forest. "Want to talk about it over cake and smokes?"

"Um who said I was sharing?" I grinned, sticking my tongue out as I walked in the direction of the benches.

"I am sorry by the way." Dimitri said softly as I dug into my slice of pizza.

"For?" He wasn't going to get off that easily. Dimitri and I had never fought this long over something that was very obviously him in the wrong. I needed him to get that he screwed up and make him grovel a bit.

"I'm sorry for getting carried away in the battle. I took it too far by breaking Matt's blade. I just didn't want to risk losing and felt like I had to do anything possible not to." He sighed.

"I still don't understand why you felt that was the only option. You're better than that, Dimitri. You're a smart blader. There is never a need to resort to breaking someone else's blade, especially when it's a friendly match." I scolded.

"I know…I'm also sorry for icing you out. I got mad when you were ignoring me, and it hurt, so I thought I'd just give you the silent treatment back." He mumbled.

I shook my head, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We really need to get better at talking out things, don't we?"

He smirked, letting out a small laugh. "It seems so. But, do you forgive me?"

I sighed, faking an eye roll. "I guess I can forgive you just this once."

He gave me a grin, looking like he was about to hug me but kept his distance. Looks like one thing hadn't changed in the three weeks of us not talking. Why couldn't one of us just get up the courage to make a move?

"So, what was today after we got back to camp about? I just heard you and Kain talking about Uncle Kai and Kain's dad and then saw him collapse." He asked.

I then explained the whole story of what I knew so far, adding in the questions I had that I needed answered.

"So, let me get this straight, that kid is most likely your long-lost brother?" Dimitri asked, eyes gone wide.

"That's what I'm thinking. I mean, why else would his father's name sound so familiar to me? Along with the fact we look alike, and everyone was looking at Tyson like they wanted to kill him. There's obviously some reason that no one wants us to know the truth and I want to know why." I stated, lighting a cigarette and quickly inhaling. The stress of the day required some nicotine.

"It's so weird. Uncle Kai has never lied to you. But even weirder, my dads never told me anything either. I'm surprised, Papa hasn't been known as good at keeping secrets. It must be something big for them to keep it for this long." He pondered.

"That's what I was thinking." I sighed. "Sure, Dad has tried to cover things up, like sleeping with random people. But there's a difference between covering something up to save face and just hiding stuff in general. Like is this something serious he just didn't want me knowing for my own good? Did he never bring it up because it made him uncomfortable?"

"Have you asked him about it?" He asked.

I shook my head. "If I texted him he would probably just ignore me and if I call he'll just hang up, knowing him. If this is something he really doesn't want me to know I need to talk to him about it face to face. Plus, I need more information to go off of than just this. Right now, I'm just assuming because of what happened. I need solid proof before I even think to bring it up to dad."

"That's true. Well we have three more weeks here. That's enough time to dig up evidence, bring it all together and show Uncle Kai to see if he'll actually open up and tell you the truth about everything. How are you feeling about all of this anyways?"

"I don't even know. The past fourteen years have been good ones. Dad has always been there for me, making sure I have everything I need. He's been a good dad and I never really felt like I was missing out with only having one parent instead of two. He's always been enough. But knowing I have another dad out there that may have not wanted me, plus a brother who I never really got to know…" I trailed off.

"Yeah…it's confusing to wrap your head around, isn't it?" He frowned.

"Yeah. I mean, there's nothing I can really do to make it better, but it would've been nice to know about all of this. Although growing up with Dad was great, maybe it could've been better." I thought outload.

"Let's be honest though, Kyra Hiwatari having a little brother she has to share everything with? That would not go over well." Dimitri smirked, nudging my shoulder.

I laughed, softly pushing him back. "Hey, you never know! I could be a great older sibling."

"You keep dreaming that, Hiwatari." He chuckled, finishing his cigarette. "I said I'd go back and hang out with Sven after apologizing to you. I still have some apologizing to do to him, plus they're having some sort of movie night in the cabin he seems excited about."

I nodded, shooing him off. "Alright, go enjoy your bromance while I enjoy this wonderful cake."

He laughed, shaking his head. "I'll see you later. Also, I really missed talking to you these three weeks. Can we promise we'll never do that again? You're kind of one of my only friends." He murmured.

I smiled softly, a smile I only reserved for Dimitri. "Agreed. No more fighting."

He grinned and turned around, heading towards the boy's cabin.

As my cigarette burnt out I threw the bud to the ground, putting it out with my shoe before immediately lighting another one. Smoking was a bad habit I'd picked up through Sven. I wanted to quit someday, but some days were too stressful to get through without a little bit of relief.

As I smoked I heard the sound of footsteps going through wet grass right behind me. I spun to see Kain, a neutral expression on his face as his crimson eyes bore into me.

"We need to talk." He spoke, coming to stand by the bench beside me.

* * *

 **Kain's POV**

I stood by the bench, trying to recollect my thoughts of the day and what happened when I woke up. After making sure everyone had gotten to safety, my stress level had shot through the roof and my body was tired and sore. My ears still had a slight ringing in them, and then to hear Tyson say what he did my brain just shut down on me.

Before I came out here with Kyra, I woke up in my room with Matt and Thomas watching over me. They both were excited to see me awake, Thomas ran off spouting that he was going to get his father and uncle before Matt or I could stop him. That left me sitting on my bed in a bit of a tight spot, Matt wasn't looking at me but at the door and there was a tension between us again.

"I'm glad you're alright." He breathed out, then slowly he turned to face me with a sad smile on his lips. "You had us all worried, you took one nasty fall and hit your head pretty hard. You feeling alright?"

"Yeah… I think so." I answered back, almost in a whisper of breath as he had done. "What… What about the others?"

"No one's seen Kyra since you passed out, her team are around somewhere, and Chief is being consoled by Tyson as we speak. Poor kid missed all the excitement, but is acting like he had gone through it with us. On top of his stomach bug, he's not been quiet since." He chuckled slightly as he talked, and I couldn't hold back my own, that sounded just like Victor.

"Has anyone called my dad yet?" My tone turned cold as I spoke, breaking the momentary silence that befell us.

"I don't think so… Kain, I never knew."

"I don't think any of us kids did, judging by the adult's reactions they're the only ones to have known… But… Why?" I mumbled out the last part to myself, Matt reached over and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Are you going to be alright?"

"No…" I breathed out in a sigh.

None of it made sense to me, dad and I were pretty honest with each other aside from a few things I hid from him. He was always open with me though, so if it was true Kyra and I were siblings it meant that he had good reason not to tell me and make sure others didn't say anything to either of us either. Unless, Kyra knew and had known all along. Once again, I could feel an unwanted anger swirl in my stomach, and I pushed off the covers of my bed and swung my feet off the side of the bed.

Matt jumped to his feet, a hand coming down on my shoulder. "Hey, you should wait for Tyson to come check on you."

I jerked my shoulder away from him, I didn't want to deal with any of the adults right now. "I have to talk to Kyra." My tone was still cold, even if I didn't want to be cross with him.

"And what is that going to do?"

I spun around to face him, having to look up slightly to meet his eyes. "It'll do me a lot more good talking to her than any of them! What if she knew, all this time she could have known and at least told me!" I yelled at him, willing my pupils not to slit.

"I don't think she knew either, calm down Kain this isn't something you should get so worked up over. I'm sure whatever reason your dad has for not telling you is a good one. Maybe Tyson will know, so just."

I cut through his words. "Just stop! You don't know anything! I have to talk to Kyra, now!" Before I could see the hurt on his face, or hear his protests I stormed out of our cabin.

I followed the smell of cigarettes and found Kyra not too far from the camp, walking up behind her she didn't seem to have heard me until her attention snapped to me. It took me by surprise, but it made sense if she was my sister, she would have the same neko-jin blood running through her like I do. Though, why she had never sensed me before was something I couldn't wrap around my head, her speed today though showed me that the possibility of her being my sister was very possible.

"So, talk." She broke the silence, after having come and stood by the bench I hadn't said anything, and I could tell she was just as tense as I was.

"Did you know?" I made sure to toss away the cold tone, trying for a neutral one but I still growled in the back of my throat.

Her eyes went wide a bit, the cigarette burning out between her fingers. "No, why would you think that?" She blinked a few times at me, her crimson eyes the same as mine.

"So, they both lied to us then?" I huffed out, my back muscles tensing.

"We don't even know for certain, how can we be?" She almost sneered at me, so I dug out my phone from my back pocket.

After scrolling through a few pictures, I brought one up of my dad. "Here." I shoved it towards her and she took it.

It became quiet as she looked at the picture, the phones back light illuminating her pale features. She blinked a few times, then dug out her own phone. Without a word she handed me her phone, of course it was a newer model than mine but beyond that it was the same brand. I looked at the picture of the man she had brought up, pale skin and crimson eyes like we had.

Right away I knew I had never met this man in my life, at least not in person. I had seen this man, at least a younger version of him in a box in the attic. The picture also had my dad in it along with Tyson, Max, and Kenny. Beyond that one picture I had never seen this man, that picture I hadn't bothered asking questions about it because I was too young to really see the resemblance between this man and myself.

"Nope, I've never seen this man in my life." I handed her phone back, while taking mine back. "How about you?"

"No… I mean, the hair is a dead give away… But it's not like there aren't other people out there with that color of hair… Not to mention, it was longer." She chewed on her bottom lip a bit before releasing a shaky breath. "All I know, is that I do have another father out there… I don't really know how it all works out, but that's one thing I know for certain."

"C'mon, we can head back to my cabin and talk about it." I waved her on, and she hesitated a second before standing.

"Are you sure that's alright? What about the rules?" I never would have taken her for one being hell-bent on following rules, since she was out here smoking in the open.

"Screw the rules for now, but we shouldn't talk about this out in the open right before lights out." I offered, already walking back to my cabin.

She didn't say anything as she followed me, digging her burnt out cigarette under her boot. How I needed one, but I still had that bottle of vodka under my bed and that sounded better than a simple smoke. We didn't speak the rest of the way to my cabin, the lights had been turned off and Matt wasn't there anymore but that was better. I don't know how I would have been able to face him, after blowing up on him like that and just leaving.

"Make yourself comfortable." I said over my shoulder, going straight to the floor by my bed and pulled the bottle out from it's hiding place.

Kyra shut the door behind her, looking around a bit before deciding to sit on the very corner of Matt's bed. I sat down on my own, unscrewing the top of the bottle and offering it to her before taking a drink first. She didn't hesitate and took it, having to reach the space of the beds before it was in her hands and took a long swig of it.

"So, say we are brother and sister, what do we do?" She asked, after making a face from the burn of the alcohol before passing it back to me.

I took a swig of it myself, letting it roll down my dry throat before answering her. "We could ask them, but I doubt they would answer us if they kept us a secret from each other for so long." She nodded at my words, and I passed the bottled back to her.

"I had the same thought really, so I haven't even called my dad or talked to him even though he's tried calling me." She took a drink, smacking her lips a bit before continuing. "I bet he's freaking out right now, I never just let his calls go to voicemail this long." She chuckled a bit, passing me the bottle again.

"Heh, lucky you. My dad had his phone turned off for the first month of us being here." I rolled my eyes taking a drink, this time longer and I could feel the alcohol burn inside the pit of my empty stomach. "You have his face though, but even still that's not enough to confirm anything."

She blinked a few times, taking the bottle back after I offered it to her as it was already halfway empty. "I never realized, I was always told I looked like my dad." She took another drink and held onto the bottle a bit longer, taking another drink before passing it back.

"Hn, I saw a picture of him… Kai, right?" She nodded as I took a drink, placing the now empty bottle back under the bed behind me. "I saw a picture when I was really young, so I never questioned it. But seeing the picture you have, I can see how much I look like him…" Another unwanted flit of anger coursed through me as I thought of it.

I looked like a man I had never met, surely, he had met me at some point in my life though, and that made me question what was so wrong with me that he never reached out to my dad about me. Why all the secrecy about who I was, who Kyra was and who we were to each other. It was clear that she was just as lost as I was, and it was wrong of me to think she had known.

"Sorry." I mumbled, and she rose an eyebrow at me. "For assuming you knew about us." I offered and she slightly nodded as it looked like she was starting to relax, I could feel myself relaxing a bit too now with the alcohol in my system.

A comfortable silence passed us until Tyson threw the door open, his eyes went wide at us for a second before he recollected himself. Luckily, I had pushed the vodka bottle back under my bed, but even if he had seen it I was in no mood to deal with his lectures.

"You two know the rules, Kyra you shouldn't be in here." He started and the anger in me swelled up so much I couldn't hold it back.

I jumped to my feet, I could see Kyra's eyes go wide at my outburst of energy. "You're not one to talk about rules uncle Tyson, so don't start!" Even though I didn't want them to, my pupils slit constricting my vision and with the alcohol it hurt my head.

"Kain?" Tyson looked at me, his mouth slightly hanging open.

"Don't Kain me! You knew, everyone knew about us! It's true though, isn't it? Kyra and I, we're siblings?!" I had motioned towards her on Matt's bed and she too stood up beside me, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Ummm… Well… You see…" He stumbled around his words, rubbing the back of his head a bit nervously.

"Why didn't anyone tell us?! Why the secrets, why the lies?!" I didn't loosen up, my voice rose and got colder as I yelled.

Tyson's arm that had been behind his head fell to his side, and he lost the nervous look on his face. "That's not for me to really tell you, you know that. It's for Kai and Ray to explain to you guys, but it is true. You two are siblings, and their children."

Beside me Kyra let out a breath of air, her hands smacking her sides as she uncrossed them from her chest. "And you think they're just going to agree to have a 'family' reunion to explain it all to us?" She asked sarcastically, but her words started to cause the wheels in my head to turn.

"I can call Ray and have him come here, he can explain it to you guys better than I can." Tyson offered, but that idea wasn't enough for me.

"Don't bother, this is something we should do. You need to go now, don't let dad know we found each other. Got it?" I wasn't sure how Tyson would take it with me giving him instructions, but my tone told him I was serious.

He faltered a bit, looking between the two of us before nodding and showing himself out. Kyra turned to me, her eyebrow raised again as I sat on the end of my bed again. Already I had so many ideas coming in and out of my head, ones where we could get both our fathers together to explain themselves. I didn't want dad to know Kyra and I had met, not yet at least. If he had gone this far to keep this a secret from me, and Kai had gone to the lengths he did for Kyra not to know about us, it was only fair to them that they didn't know we knew.

"I have an idea." I broke the silence, and met her crimson eyes with my own and a smirk across my lips as both fangs stuck out over my lower lip.


	9. Chapter 9

**Kai's POV**

It was the last week of August and Kyra was finally coming home from camp. I hadn't heard from her since she had called and told me everything about her and Dimitri fighting which was strange. I had called and texted, thinking the first few times I had she just had missed my calls or hadn't seen messages yet, until I only started hearing one ring before being disconnected. Kyra was purposely avoiding my calls by hanging up on me. She had never done anything like this before, meaning she either had done something she wasn't supposed to or there was something else going on. Whatever it was she couldn't hide it from me much longer since I was on my way to pick her up from the airport.

As I'd promised, I had taken the week of Kyra getting home off, that way I could get her from the airport and spend the last week she had before school started doing things together. I had met up with Spencer and Tala at the terminal Hiwatari Enterprises owned, waiting for our children to walk through the doors. The greetings were standard. Tala hugged Dimitri so tight he could've probably suffocated him, much to his displeasure, and Spencer gave Sven a pat on the back and a smile. When I saw Kyra starting to walk up to us I gave a wave and a small smile, only for her to ignore me completely and walk right past me.

"Uhh hello to you too?" I muttered, my eyes narrowing as I looked back to watch my daughter continue to walk away from me. "What's wrong with her?"

"I-it was a long flight, you know? She didn't really sleep much. I think she's just tired." Dimitri babbled, obvious he was making excuses.

I frowned, continuing to watch her walk out of the airport. She had never been like this before.

I'd followed her out of the airport, her somehow finding my car even though I never told her where I'd parked. I unlocked it and tried to help her put her bags in the car, only to have her pull them out of my reach and put them in the trunk herself. She then silently got in the passenger seat, slamming the door once she was in. I was really hoping I had lucked out in not having to experience any typical teenage daughter behaviour, but Kyra was proving me wrong with how she was acting at that moment.

As we drove home I tried to engage her in conversation any way I knew how to. I'd never been one for talking, but it bothered me that my daughter wasn't speaking to me at all.

"So, how was camp? Did all the drama get resolved?"

Silence.

"Did you learn any new techniques or attacks?" I asked, glancing over to see she had her eyes closed, arms crossed with her headphones on. This was the one time I hated that she got more of my traits than Ray's.

"Or I guess I'll just talk to myself…" I sighed, turning my full focus to the road in front of us. This was going to be a long and painfully silent drive home.

The minute we got to the house she asked our butler Jerimiah to help her bring her bags to her room, slowly starting to take them out of the trunk to put them on the ground.

"Kyra, I can help you." I tried to offer, only for her to turn away from me and continue to speak to Jeremiah.

Jeremiah looked from Kyra to myself, looking just as confused as I was right now. "Um, yes Miss Kyra. Are you sure you wouldn't like Master Kai's help since he offered?"

"No." She spat, taking two of her bags and turning on her heel to walk into the house.

I gave Jeremiah a weak 'thanks for trying' smile before he followed Kyra quickly into the house. It was obvious to me now that Kyra wasn't avoiding me because she did something wrong, she was avoiding me because she was mad at me. The only thing was, I hadn't done anything for her to warrant being mad at me for. The last time we spoke had been so nice, what could've happened between then and now to cause this level of anger towards me?

After getting her things up to her room, Kyra closed her door and started to blast some sort of rock music, basically giving me a 'do not bother me' signal. I sighed, deciding to go and finish signing some paper work in my study. If my daughter was going to ice me out I could at least go and finish some work in the meantime. As the hours passed I tried to approach her room a few times, knocking only to still be ignored. It got to seven in the evening when I decided to finally put my foot down and end this deep freeze.

The music had been turned off, making the house uncomfortably silent like it had been before Kyra had come home. I walked up to her door, knocked and waited for a response. When I didn't get one I decided to open the door, throwing every rule we had about privacy out the window. I looked in to see Kyra sitting in the bay window of her room, her full attention on one of her books before she looked over at me with a glare.

"What?" She snapped. Wow, that was the first word she was saying to me after four weeks of not talking.

"Dinner is ready. I'd appreciate it if you'd come downstairs and eat with me." I stated, my voice calm and even but still showing my authority as her parent.

She rolled her eyes, turning her attention back to her book as if I hadn't said anything to her. Really? That was how she was going to be? That was when I decided to go into full Father Mode.

"That wasn't a question. Downstairs. Now." I growled, waiting until she got up and started walking out of her room to make my way down the steps.

Dinner was how I expected it to be. Both of us ate in silence, her giving me side glances and narrowed eyes every now and then. Just as she was about to finish eating I decided to ask the big question.

"Alright, enough with the attitude. I know you're mad at me for something. I don't exactly know what I did but if you're angry with me, just tell me." I frowned.

Her eyes shot up at me, giving me one of her dirty glares that I'd only seen given to her opponents or on the odd occasion, Sven. She stood up, crossing her arms as her lips formed a scowl. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe the fact that while I was gone I found out I had a younger brother that **you** never told me about living with the father of mine that **you** refuse to talk about?" She snarled. Did I see her eyes start to try and slit?

Oh shit. The only thing I'd been keeping from my daughter all these years had been revealed somehow.

"Kyra, I can explain…" I sighed, trying to de-escalate the volcano that was my daughter. She was normally rather level headed like Ray was but when she was angry, she exploded pretty fast. I didn't know if it was a girl thing or just a Kyra thing but when it happened it was never pretty.

"Don't even try to explain. You lied to me Dad. You lied to me for fourteen years! What happened to total honesty, hmm? What happened to no lies? Family isn't supposed to lie to each other, especially not when you're the only family I know." She shouted, getting quieter close to the end and sounding like she was on the verge of tears.

"Kyra…" I frowned, standing up to try and go to her.

"Forget it. I'm out of here." She snarled, starting to storm towards the front door.

"Kyra Mei Hiwatari, you get your ass back here this instant!" I shouted after her, only to hear the door slam as my response.

That's when I realized, Jeremiah was off duty and we lived in a mansion in the middle of no where. How was she going to-oh shit. Don't take the Mustang, don't take the Mustang. A rev of an engine started, soon followed by the sound of the car zooming out of the lot.

"Of course, she took the brand-new car…" I sighed, sitting back down to put my head in my hands. How did I let this situation get out of hand so fast?

Thankfully for me, Kyra often went to the same place when she was upset or just needed to be around someone other than me, Tala and Bryan's to spend time with Dimitri. She had been spending time there and sleeping over since the two were of school age, something that hadn't really changed as they went into their teens. Tala, Bryan and I had never thought anything about the sleepover since Kyra always stayed in their guest room, but now that I knew about their infatuation with each other it changed my views a lot. After half an hour, the amount I knew it took to drive to Tala and Bryan's estate, I dialed Tala's number to confirm her whereabouts.

"Yeah, she's here. Dimitri told me earlier how she knows about Kain and Ray which lead me to believe you guys got in a fight about it and so that's why she came here, right?" Tala asked.

"Yes." I sighed.

"I told you that you shouldn't have waited so long to tell her. I told you to tell her years ago but no. Whoever listens to Tala, right?" He droned on.

"Oh, shut up Ivanov. Can I come get my daughter or not?" I muttered.

"You can come and get her if you want but when I told her she should probably call you or go home she just gave me your death glare which was a bit terrifying. So, I walked away." He said simply.

"Tala, she's a seventeen-year-old girl. What part of her is so terrifying you can't show your adult authority over her?" I asked, shaking my head. Why did I consider this man as one of my best friends again?

"Have you seen your daughter? No offence, she may be pretty, but she is terrifying when she is pissed off. Her glare is almost as scary as yours." He accused.

"Whatever. I'm coming to get her. If you think she's scary you're going to be terrified when you see how pissed off I'm going to be to have to drag her ass back to this house." I growled.

"Ooh Father Kai is ready for business."

"Hn." I grunted, hanging up the phone and going towards to garage to make my way to round up my daughter.

Tala was waiting by the door, smoking a cigarette when I showed up. "The devil spawn is still here, Lord Satan." He stated while bowing mockingly towards me.

"How many times do I have to ask you to stop calling me that?" I sighed as I walked up to the door.

"I dunno, maybe we'll find out some day. Her and Dimitri are inside watching a show or something if you want to go find them." He waved towards the door.

He opened the door, finishing his cigarette before leading me into the house. We walked past the dining room, revealing Bryan sitting at the table with one hand on his coffee mug and the other on his laptop keys.

"Oh no, is Father Kai coming out to play?" Bryan smirked, knowing how much the nickname got on my nerves.

"Can either of you just let me live and tell me where the hell my daughter is?" I growled, shooting a glare at both of them.

Tala pointed towards the entertainment room, shaking his head with a laugh.

I stormed in, narrowing my eyes at the back of Kyra's head. She was lounging on a recliner while Dimitri was sprawled out on the large couch next to her chair. The two turned, Kyra forming a glare as she noticed me while Dimitri looked stunned.

"Didn't I say I didn't want to talk about this?" She growled, continuing to glare at me as Dimitri moved away from her.

"And I'm saying you have no choice. Come home and I'll explain everything. If you don't come home, I'm taking away those Bring Me The Horizon tickets I bought you for your birthday." I threatened. Obviously, I was never going to take away a present but since I'd never threatened her like this before, she didn't know that.

Her eyes went wide, going back to a glare once she realized she faltered. "You don't scare me."

"Trust me, I've been playing this game a lot longer than you." I glared back.

This went on for another minute, Dimitri looking between the two of us in terror before interrupting.

"Kyra, just do what he says and go home! You wanted answers this whole time and now he's going to give them to you. Staying mad at him is just going to prolong the truth." He said softly, poking her arm.

She sighed, looking over at him. For the first time I could see what Tala was saying with the puppy love eyes. Her features softened when looking at Dimitri, reminding me a lot of how Ray used to look when he looked at me.

"You just want me to back down cause you want to go to this concert and know I'm taking you." She smirked, the puppy love look still on her face.

He reciprocated the look, giving a grin. "Obviously. But I'm being serious, go home."

She sighed, getting on her feet and walking to stand in front of me. "Fine. I'll come home and let you explain as long as you promise not to leave anything out. No more secrets Dad."

I nodded, turning to lead her out to the car. We passed by Bryan again, me giving him a wave to get his attention.

"Drive the mustang back to my house tomorrow and you can have the rest of the day off to do whatever it is you and Tala do on days off." I stated, throwing the keys his way.

"Uncle Kai! You just invited them to have sex!" Dimitri groaned, causing Kyra to break out into a laugh.

I smirked as the two of us walked out, leaving the Ivanov-Kuznetsov men arguing.

The two of us sat across from each other on couches in the living room, avoiding eye contact with the other. This was the first serious conversation we were having as father and daughter and to say it was awkward was an understatement. Neither of us really knew how to start off, both trying to look to the other for an idea. Finally, I decided to just cut to the chase.

"Should I just start from the beginning and you can ask questions when you have them?" I asked.

She nodded. "I think that would work."

I took a deep breath in, trying to think of how to start off. I hadn't really thought about Ray since Kyra turned eight, when I'd decided to keep her here in Russia without contacting him. Even though it had been fourteen years, thinking about him was still difficult. I may not have seen him since I was twenty, but I knew I still loved him.

"So, you know that I was seventeen when you were born. Your father, Ray, was sixteen and we were very much in love. Both of us were a bit shocked when we found out he was pregnant, but we wanted to make it work and he wanted to keep you, so we decided to follow through." I started to explain.

"Wait, if you're a man and he's a man, how was he pregnant with me?" She asked, eyes wide.

I smirked. "That one I'm not totally sure of. He'd explained it to me, but it's been so long I don't even remember but that's besides the point."

"I don't get how but whatever. Continue, I guess." She scowled, crossing her arms to show she wasn't happy with my lack of knowledge.

"Well as I've told you before, your birth has been probably the best day of my life. The two of us loved you the minute we looked at you and were a happy little family for the first six months. Then my grandfather decided to start grooming me to become to future owner of Hiwatari Enterprises. I didn't turn it down since we needed some sort of income and it was a way I could provide the best life for you and Ray. After six months my grandfather passed away, automatically making me the new CEO of Hiwatari Enterprises. I had only just turned eighteen and was trying to help Ray take care of you and then had just been thrusted into a major leadership position." I continued.

"Wow…that sounds really hard." She murmured, looking down at her boots.

I nodded. "It was. I wasn't able to spend as much time with you both anymore, only really seeing you when you were sleeping. Then to add onto it after you turned one, Ray was pregnant again. I wasn't able to be there for Ray for a lot of the pregnancy since I was either flying back here from Japan or doing my best to work from home. Then your brother arrived, and things just started falling apart. I was never home; any time I was your father and I would fight constantly. I never saw either of you, making it so I never really formed a bond with your brother.

"Then it came to the day where Ray decided to end things. He couldn't take it anymore, having to raise the two of you on his own. The two of us broke up, him leaving with Kain while he had decided to leave you with me. We were supposed to switch off every weekend but with my lack of bond with Kain I never felt comfortable enough to take him. I felt horrible, but I would leave you with Ray, trying to use my weekends free to do all the work that was keeping me from spending time with you and trying to work things out with Ray. Work just kept piling up till I decided to take you with me to go to Russia for the month in hopes that it might help." I explained.

"Let me guess, it didn't?" She asked with a frown.

I shook my head. "It did at first but when I came back to Japan things just got worse again. I had forgotten to inform Ray of me taking you to Russia, which lead him to keep you from me for the month after we got back. During that time alone I was swamped with work and upset about being kept from you. That was when I decided I wanted to move here, taking you to move with me the day after Ray gave you back. I never thought to ask him about it. I just wanted to do what was best for the two of us and it seemed like it was for a while, till I remembered that I had left him and Kain. I'd taken you from him and left him in the dark about where and how you were." I sighed, putting my head down. "The one thing I truly regret is taking away your opportunity to grow up with both of us."

"Why did you do it then? Keep me from him and not tell me anything?" She asked, the anger in her eyes starting to form again.

"At that point, you were all I had. Being honest, you're still all I have. I couldn't risk bringing you back there and Ray taking you back, not letting me have a relationship with you. Things were going so well here, and you and I were happy. I didn't want to lose that or you. I regret keeping the two of you apart and not getting the chance to fully get to know Kain, but I do not regret doing what I've had to do to give you the life you deserve and be able to watch you grow up into the person you are today." I smiled, looking up at her.

Her mouth hung open a little as her eyes watered slightly. "Dad…you really did all that for me?"

I nodded. "You're my priority and I promised myself that after I ruined things with Ray and Kain I was going to do right by you."

She smiled, coming over and giving me one of her rare hugs. Kyra was never physically affectionate, very similar to me. But when she was it meant something. "I appreciate everything you've done but honestly? You didn't have to lie to me. If you would've told me this years ago I would've understood."

"I know." I sighed. "I was just worried about what happened earlier happening, but I guess prolonging it just made it worse."

She smirked, standing up straight again. "Just a little bit. Well, what's done is done and I know now."

"Wait, how did you find out anyways?" I asked with furrowed brows.

"Oh, well Kain was at the camp we went to. He's the one that Dimitri challenged. Well one thing led to another and one of the coaches, Tyson, ended up accidentally spilling we were siblings." She said casually.

"Tyson Granger?" I groaned. Of course, of all the people that they would've heard it from, it had to be Tyson.

She nodded. "Yeah. Not the brightest person I've ever met. Kain is okay though. A little much when it comes to personality and energy, but he seems cool. Looks a lot like you actually. Maybe you two could meet one day."

I sighed, shaking my head. "It would be interesting, but I don't think it will happen. After fourteen years I doubt Ray even wants to see my face, let alone let the son I barely know come and spend time with me when I kept his daughter from him."

"Hey, you never know, things could change." She smirked, starting to walk out of the living room and up to her bedroom.

"Kyra? What do you mean by that?" I called.

"Oh nothing!" She called back.

Oh dear god, what did my daughter have planned for me?


	10. Chapter 10

**So this chapter is a bit different, instead of two POV's one at a time, it's like a blend. Kain's thoughts are in bold while Kyra's are in italics. The entire conversation was done with me and Misfit actually talking to each other like our characters would, and it was really fun to do and we might do it again for a future chapter.**

 **Once again, Misfit writes for Kai and Kyra while I do Ray and Kain.**

 **Everything between [ ] are their texts to each other.**

 **Enjoy the show!  
As always, thank you Livin89 for being such a strong supporter in my works! And any and all who are following or favoriting the story as it comes along.  
**

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[Earth to Number One Sassy Bitch.] **I smiled looking down at the code name I had given her, this was going to be fun. We had swapped numbers two nights after our talk back at camp, needing to stay in touch so I could lay out my plans to her. We had talked on and off since returning to our respective fathers, she said Kai was a real mess trying to get her to talk to him, but I had yet to know of how that went.**

[Um what?] _Sassy Bitch? Who was this kid thinking he was talking to?_

[How'd the talk go?]

[Surprisingly more deep than I thought but it ended well. I was right, he still loves Ray.]

[PERFECT! That'll make this so much easier.] **I couldn't but help smile again, fang and all.**

[What is your master plan anyways? I still don't get how you think we can get them together if they won't willingly be in the same room.] _I was right. From what Dad just said, he wouldn't be willing to go see Ray and I highly doubt Ray would want to see him. Ray wouldn't be able to take me back now since I was almost an adult and could make my own decisions but that still didn't mean that Ray wouldn't try to take things out on Dad._

[Ah, ye' of lil faith dear sister. My plan is fool proof, dad was SO excited to hear that I found you. So, I suggested you all come for Christmas.] _Cocky little shit._

[No way. Can't be that easy. From how dad was talking Ray would rather shoot him dead than let him anywhere near you after all these years.] **Does kind of sound like dad, but then again if we didn't pull this off I'd be stuck here never to really see her again.**

[Believe it or not, dad still loves Kai too. Pretty weird hu? Just trust me, this is the perfect way to get them back. It's what they need, what we need. I'm stuck here at fucking Gabe's until the New Years. I'm dying over here.] _Was it really what I needed? Kain may be excited about this but things are good with Dad and I. Do we really have to add new people into the mix?_

[Whatever you say. How do we even know if we'll like our other fathers? Ha ha. It's just me and Dad. And occasionally Dimitri's dads.]

 **So, that was a trick question. I honestly didn't know if I'd like Kai or how we would even interact. Kyra, she may not like dad at all either, but we couldn't just back out now. How dare she laugh at my expense! It's not like I want to be here.** [Well... Do you like Kai?]

[Obviously. He raised me.] _I rolled my eyes. This is obvious information. Of course, I like my Dad._

[And we know you like me, so you'll like dad. Problem solved. How's Dimitri doing these days anyways?] **I smirked at the phone, it took her a bit longer to respond this time.**

[I don't think that's how that works but okay. Eh he's fine. Still dodging around me when things get even slightly intimate. Matt?]

 **Ouch, where did this sudden pain come from? My smirk vanished, trying to think of what to say without sounding too whiny about it**. [Dunno, haven't talked to him since I was pulled to the pits of Hell. Been here two months, and he hasn't called me or text me and I'm two hours away.]

 _I frowned. They seemed so close before the battle went down. The few weeks without speaking to Dimitri had hurt me a lot. I couldn't imagine what Kain was feeling after a few months of not talking to Matt._ [I'm sorry.]

 **Well that was a nice uplifting text, not. Oh well, pushing past the sudden pain I thought of what to say all the while still trying to sound not too whiny.** [Nah, don't be. We weren't together. Do you think Dimitri would be interested?]

[In me?] **I had to roll my eyes after reading that. Well duh he's interested in you, but none of you two are budging.** **I swear the last weeks at camp they were googly eyed for each other, but neither one of them did a damn thing about it and it was pathetic to watch.**

[No, the Queen of England... Me! He's pretty good lookin, and if you aren't going to step up...] _I wrinkled my nose, glaring at my phone. Ew. One, Dimitri was straight. Two, regardless if we were together or not, he's mine._

[Do that and you may actually be going to hell.] **I had to smirk again, I knew that'd get her riled up.**

[Empty threats sis. That's all that is when you're in the freezing pits of Russia.] _I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. This kid was so annoying. How were we related again?_

[I can easily mame you at Christmas. It's not even that cold here.]

[So, I take it you're coming then?]

[Do I really have a choice? But only if Dad agrees. Not even sure how I would even convince him of that.] _Getting Dad to even talk to me about Ray was like pulling teeth. Getting him to come with me to see him in person? Pretty sure I'd have to drug him for that._

[No, you don't. This has to be done, please for your favorite brother do me this solid. And... I don't know, I don't know the man...] **I frowned again, damn my mood swings.**

[You're my only brother...That I know of. I have no clue. Maybe puppy dog eyes that I did as a kid.] _My dad was a sucker for a good cute face when I was younger. One look and a few tears and he would melt in an instant. Now as a teenager? Not so much._

[You mean Kitty eyes. Mine used to work on dad ALL the time, till I punched him...] _My eyes went wide, reading the text again to make sure I got it right. Wait, what?_

[Kitty eyes? And you WHAT?] **I belted out a laugh, just picturing her face when she wrote that. I bet it was priceless, having to force myself to stop my laughing before dad came up to see what the fuss was all about.**

[Long story short, Gabe asked dad out, I went to punch Gabe and dad got in the way. Broke his nose, all that good stuff. Got grounded for an entire year! Can you believe that? A year, it was miserable. Not to mention he punched me back, and damn that hurt.]

[Damn. I'd never even think of doing that to Dad or any of the guys he sleeps with. Worst he's done was ground me for two months after joining Dimitri and Sven to go off-roading, only for Dimitri to crash his brand-new Range Rover into a lake. I got the least punishment since I was in the backseat, but Dad mostly grounded me cause I scared the shit out of him.] _I smirked, remembering how frantic Dad was when he heard we had to swim out of the lake._ _He just kept saying how we would've died if the lake were frozen._

 **I snorted, at least now I knew I wasn't the only one out there doing things I shouldn't be**. [It's not like I meant to hit him, he just got in the way. But anyways, we're getting off track. What do we do about the old man?]

 _I sighed, not really knowing how to answer. Dad was stubborn. I know since it's where I get that trait from._ [I think the only way Dad would do it is if he knows for sure that we'll be welcomed fully. Same for me too.]

[You know I want to see you again, we didn't really get to hang after finding out about each other. We know nothing about the other father, and as I said dad is thrilled to know you're doing alright and wants to see you.]

[But would he be okay with seeing Dad?] _As much as I wanted to make Kain's wishes come true I wasn't going to put my Dad in an uncertain situation._

 **Oh boy, another hurdle. How am I supposed to know, more than likely no he would not be alright with seeing Kai after taking Kyra away.** [Don't know, just know that he and Gabe aren't going to last long anyways so might as well try?]

[I guess...I'll try talking to him about it, but I can't guarantee a quick yes. Going to take a lot for me to get him to agree to this.]

[That's fine, I mean... You could always see what he says about me? I mean... I don't know him or anything, but I do kind of want to meet him too. I don't know anything about him, you at least sort of remember dad.]

 _I frowned. Sure, I remembered Ray, but it was such a blurry memory._ [Barely. It sounds like we moved when I was almost four and that's when most of my memories are from. I just remember a general idea of what he looked like. Dad's awesome though. Works hard to support us, always been there no matter what he has going on. Just really reserved with most people and is a bit easy to break when it comes to me.]

 **So, Kai's like total opposite of dad, in some aspects.** [Dad's a hard worker too, he's been fighting tooth and nail for the past five years to get his restaurant up and running but he keeps getting setbacks. I'd like to say he's always there, but that first month of camp when he didn't have his phone on was stressful cus he normally is there. He's not all too reserved, he can give good advice and will gladly hold a conversation with you. Great cook too.]

 _Ray sounded very different than Dad. How did they get along?_ [Yeah, I think Dad had a rough upbringing making him not really willing to open up with many. I'm really all he has so he's always been there regardless of work. Kind of worries me for when I go to college though. Oh god Dad is a horrible cook. I or the staff have to make everything if we don't want food poisoning. He mixes a mean drink though.]

 **My nose curled at that, how the hell did these two function together before?** [That's just sad, seriously. I can get that, you have like a year left right? I'm stuck for three, was offered to skip a grade but I like staying in the grade for my age group cus of Matt and Stella. Least you know you won't suffer from food poisoning at Christmas dinner.]

[Yeah it's my last year of high school. Supposed to be applying to colleges but picking a major is hard and I don't really know how dad would cope if I went somewhere further away. Dimitri is talking about all of these far away colleges and I don't really know how to feel. That's a plus.] _I sighed, lying back on my bed. The decision of College was one that was really taking a toll on me._

 **I frowned a bit, placing the cigarette back between my lips. I had to come outside because someone likes to scar his son for life.** [Bummer, have no advice for you there sis, maybe dad can help you? I mean, my dad... We should really think of what to call them when they're around. Anyways, any idea how or what you're going to tell Kai?]

 _I scoffed, not really wanting to ask the father I didn't really know for advice on how to leave the only dad I did know._ [Why can't we just call the other by first name? I dunno, probably tell him how you and I want to get to know each other and how Ray would like me to come. Not sure how to tell him he'll not be killed for coming though.]

 **She has a point; how do I stop my dad from killing the other?** [Have him bring back up?]

 _Hmm, maybe that isn't that bad of an idea._ [I guess I could talk him into it by saying Dimitri and his dads could come. Would Ray be cool with that?]

[Don't see why not? I have a feeling he knows them well enough, at least he should. Besides, I'd like to see Dimi again.]

[I'll ask him and let you know. If he comes, 1. Do not call him that. 2. Do not flirt with him.]

 **I smirked again, god this was fun messing with her.** [You're no fun, you know that? Alright, I'll do my best not to flirt with your non-boyfriend. Scouts honor.]

 _I rolled my eyes. This kid was going my make my eyes roll out of my head._ [Whatever.]

[Alright, well I think it's safe for me to go inside now... I'll talk to you later, maybe in a day or two. Let me know what the old man says, and I'll let you know what mine says.]

[Sounds good. Have fun with the sexcapades there.]

 **I shuddered, physically gagging**. [That's not funny, that's just sick.]

[Hey, at least it's with someone you know.] _I smirked, knowing I was right. I'd rather Dad be screwing someone he cared about and I knew opposed to randoms._

[That's supposed to make me better? No, I'd rather it not be anyone!]

 _I shook my head. Just cause they're our parents doesn't mean they don't have needs._ [Hey, they're human too. If we have sex they have the right to.]

[So... You're not a virgin?]

 _I grimaced thinking back to my old boyfriend._ [God no. Do I wish I was? Yeah. The guy was horrible, both in bed and personality.]

 **I couldn't help but laugh at that, here's to hoping Dimitri is better than that crap.** [Ah, I can safely assume that mistake won't happen again then. Sad about that though, Matt's a beast in bed.]

[Probably going to be forty by the time anything good comes along. Ew. I did not need to know that.] _I wrinkled my nose in disgust. I do not need to know how a fifteen-year-old is in bed._

[Nah, not under my watch dear sister. Anyways, I better go now it's about day break here. I'll talk to you later.]

[Alright, bye Cocky Bastard.] _I grinned, finally getting my shot at a code name._

 **I couldn't help but laugh and shake my head.** [You know it, but you love me anyways. Night Sassy bitch, take care of Dimi for me till I see you all in a few months.]

[ -.-]

* * *

 **Kyra's POV**

After texting Kain till one in the morning, I had fallen asleep trying to think of how to ask Dad to go visit Ray and Kain and make sure he said yes. When I woke up it was October 19th, the morning of Dimitri's seventeenth birthday. The two of us had school during the day but after that Dad and I had planned to go over to Bryan and Tala's for dinner to celebrate. I decided I'd try to ask him this morning, hoping that his morning coffee would make him a little easier to convince.

I pulled on my school uniform, a green plaid skirt and black sweater, brushed through my hair and applied some minimal make-up before going down with my school bag to see Dad already drinking his coffee while reading the paper at the kitchen table.

"Morning!" I smiled, going to grab my own cup of coffee.

He looked up, furrowing his brows. "Morning?"

I went and sat across from him, tilting my head at his reaction. "What?"

"You're never this happy in the morning. What do you want?" He sighed.

"Why would you automatically assume I want something just because I smiled and said good morning to you? Can't a daughter greet her dad happily and not be accused of it being for ill intentions?" I questioned, giving a slight smirk as I brought my coffee up to my mouth.

"Other daughters? Maybe. My daughter? No. Spit it out. What are you asking for?" He groaned, crossing his arms.

Shit. This was going to be more difficult than I thought.

"Fine, you got me. But it's something that has benefits for you too." I started off, trying to sound convincing. "Ray and Kain have invited us to come to Japan for Christmas and I would like to go."

"Absolutely not." He answered quickly, getting up to put his coffee cup in the dish washer.

"Why not? You're not even going to think about it?" I called out.

"No. I thought what I said about that whole situation would've made you understand why we're staying here and haven't had contact with them. If we go visit it's just going to be constant fighting and Ray is going to fight to get you back. I'm not allowing that to happen." He said firmly.

"Dad, I think you're forgetting that I'm seventeen and can choose where I live. Plus, Ray is the one who has invited us. Obviously if it was his idea he isn't that mad at you. Come on, please? Kain and I want to get to know each other more and I've never really known what my other father is like. Plus, aren't you curious how Kain is doing? He is your kid too." I coaxed.

He looked as if he was thinking over what I had said for a minute before answering once again. "I understand you want to get to know them but I don't think it's a good idea to do it just yet. Maybe another time."

"But-" I tried to get in before getting cut off once more.

"I said no. That's the last we're discussing this. Now finish your breakfast, I need to get to work and you need to go to school." He said sternly before walking out of the kitchen.

Well, I guess it was on to Plan B.

Dimitri's birthday dinner was like a typical dinner between our two families. Bryan, Tala and Dad talked business, Dimitri and I talked about the dramas of our private school and the five of us discussed blading and future plans together. Lately the topic had often fallen on college but I was thankful that tonight I was able to deter it with a more pressing matter.

"So, Dad and I got invited to go to Japan and stay at Ray's house with him and Kain for Christmas." I casually threw in, causing Tala to do a spit take and Bryan's eyebrows to raise.

"Wait, what? Ray is back in your life?" Tala exclaimed, starring at Dad with wide eyes.

"No! Kyra met Kain at that blading camp the kids went to in the summer. I guess the two of you have been in contact? That's how this came about?" Dad asked, looking at me with a look of annoyance, to which I answered with a nod.

"So, are you actually going to go? I thought last I heard you didn't want to try reaching out to Ray?" Bryan asked, looking just as confused as his husband.

"We're not going. I already told Kyra that and I thought she understood." He grimaced.

"Okay, just hear me out with this one. I have the chance to get to know the brother I never knew I had and the father I haven't seen in fourteen years. You may both still have a lot of bad feelings towards each other but isn't that something the two of you can work out for the sake of your kids? If it makes you feel better he said we could bring Uncle Tala, Uncle Bryan and Dimitri." I explained.

"I doubt that either of them would want to-" Dad started.

"Sure, I'd go. She is right Kai. She deserves to know them." Tala responded, giving Dad a look of sincerity.

Dad sighed and shook his head, looking over at Uncle Bryan as if he hoped Bryan would vote against it. "What do you think?"

"Honestly? I agree with Kyra and Tala. It's been fourteen years. She deserves to know them and you two should be burying the hatchet for the sake of your kids. The fact you managed to stay apart this long is a bit insane to me." He responded.

Dad groaned, throwing his head back. "What kind of friends are you both?"

"So, does this mean it's a yes?" I grinned, looking between the three Russian men.

Dad sighed, crossing his arms. "Fine. On two conditions. One, the three of them come." He said, pointing to Tala, Bryan and Dimitri. "Two, if I feel that something is wrong and we should leave, we leave. No talking me out of it, no trying to delay my decisions. If I say we are leaving, we're leaving. Deal?"

I smirked, giving him a nod. "Deal."

"And you promise me that Ray did agree to this and he knows we are coming?" He double checked.

"Yes. One hundred percent." I answered truthfully.

Well, looks like we're spending our Christmas in Japan. Kain better not have any tricks up his sleeve.


	11. Chapter 11

**Ray's POV**

It's been one hell of a roller coaster ride these past months since Kain has come back from camp, having to pick him up at home and then tell him we were leaving to stay at Gabe's till the New Year was not a pleasant experience. I was happy to see him, happy to see that he seemed to be doing alright but of course the second I told him where we were going he blew his top. I honestly don't know where he gets these out burst from, oh wait, yes, I do; Kai. The father he never met or knows of, he's just like him in some ways and other times he's a perfect mix of us. His anger can come in at intervals or he goes deathly quiet and will give you the cold shoulder if he sees fit, and that's what he's doing now and has been doing for the last three weeks.

I have tried everything I can think of to get him to say something to me, but all my attempts have failed with either him just taking off to who knows where or his nose is stuck in his phone. Who he's texting up a storm with, I have no clue but at least it brings a smile to his face every now and then when he doesn't think I'm looking.

I haven't told him Gabe and I are getting married, and I'm surprised Gabe hasn't called it all off with how my son has been acting since being here. I'm just slightly glad Kain hasn't tried to hit him again or done anything too bad towards him. I know Gabe isn't trying to be another father figure to him, he never has tried that, and I don't think I'd be all that comfortable with it to begin with either if he started now. Sure, he'll scorn him if I'm not around, or it's extremely warranted but I can parent my own flesh and blood just fine.

"Evening dear." Gabe greets me, where I've been sitting on the couch in the living room going over paper work for the restaurant.

Papers are scattered over the coffee table, and I have a headache from all the numbers that just don't seem right to me. I was hoping everything would have been settled last month, but it just seems I'm never going to be able to get this up and running without more trouble.

I give him a half smile, setting back into the couch as he sits down beside me and starts his 'greeting'. I'm too tense to really be in the mood, and it seems I've been this way since last month and we haven't been intimate since October. Cold hands run under my shirt and I bite my lip, pushing him off me gently.

"Not right now, Kain's upstairs." Gabe just sighs, retracting his hand he put under my shirt and sitting off me, letting me sit up on the couch in his living room.

I shift my shirt back around, so it'll properly sit, ruffling my own hair to make it look a bit like it had before he started trying to seduce me after getting back to his home from work. I don't live with him, not yet at least. Two months and we will be living here more permanently since we're getting married, I honestly would have never thought it possible that I'd be marrying someone other than Kai, but here I am.

Do I love Gabe, yes, but not as much as I did Kai. How could I ever forget my first love, my first everything? Having two children by him, knowing each other for as long as we did, it'd be impossible to have that same connection with someone else. Gabe doesn't know Kai exists, all he knows is Kain is my son and he has a mother somewhere. Kain knows this to, I never had the heart to tell him he had another father _and_ older sister.

"I should get dinner started." I stand, buttoning my pants that he somehow got undone.

"Alright." He says and follows me into the kitchen, guess my rejection has gone through one ear and out the other.

For the most part he stays back while I gather the ingredients for our dinner, he knows I don't like it when I have people standing over me. We've been together for five years, but sometimes he forgets since now he's behind me again kissing up and down my neck while I'm waiting for the water to boil on the stove. His hand's start to roam and I mix a purr with a growl as warning, his lips smirk on my skin and I sigh out.

"Gabe… Stop." I mumble out and he pulls back going to say something when the doorbell rings, I had been so focused on him I hadn't sensed anyone coming up to the door.

"Who could that be at this hour?" He huffs, but leaves to answer it.

Upstairs I can hear Kain running, he's not going to use the stairs and will just jump the landing and will probably beat Gabe to the door as he's shouting that he'll get the door.

"I GOT IT!" Kain yells as I can hear him land from his jump, I can hear the door open but since my sense of smell is dulled I can't pick up who it is.

"Hello… Can I help you?" Gabe asks, and by now my curiosity is getting the better of me so I step around the corner of the kitchen into the archway of the living room and foyer.

My heart stops, the wooden spoon in my hand falls to the tiled floor and I imitate a fish. My mouth is opening and closing, my eyes are wide as I take in everyone standing in the foyer now. Gabe looks a bit confused, Kain is grinning from ear to ear where both his fangs stick out. Behind them is a very confused looking Kai, Tala and Bryan. Two others come in behind the men, one is a young boy a year older than Kain with hair that matches Tala's, Dimitri? He was born after Kyra if I remember right.

The other person who comes in is my daughter, and my heart drops as she looks down right pissed, her glare matches her fathers to a fine point. She's beautiful though and my legs start to move themselves until I'm in the foyer with everyone else, Gabe sends me a questioning look and I just shrug to him then turn to my son. Of course, this is his doing, the way he's looking at us all spells it out for me.

"Kain… Care to explain?" I narrow my eyes at him and he turns to me.

"I invited everyone over for Christmas!" He claps his hands together, and now all eyes are on me again.

"What do you mean you invited them?!" I shout.

"I guess I forgot to mention it." Kain rubs the back of his head, trying to look like he feels guilty for this.

"You said they knew we were coming!" Kyra steps in and she grabs his shirt collar, Kai's hand goes onto her shoulder to stop her from doing anything further than that.

"I'm sorry, but who are you all again?" Gabe cuts in now, he looks nervous and confused. Then again, I would be if I was in his shoes with three angry Russian's towering over us all.

"Well, this is my father." He points to Kai who scowls at him, I didn't tell Kain this so how he knows this I have no clue and my blood runs cold for a moment as Kai's scowl shifts to me.

"This is my sister." He points at Kyra who had taken a step back from him and she crosses her arms over her chest, very much 'Kai' like.

"I don't know who those two are, but that's my boyfriend." He finishes, pointing to Tala and Bryan and then their son.

Kyra's face falls for a second, Kai's eyebrow arches and Bryan makes some kind of noise and Tala looks from his son to mine for a minute as I do the same. Since when?!

"I am NOT your boyfriend!" Dimitri shouts, his face turning just as red as his hair. I let out a sigh of relief at that, but that still doesn't help this situation.

"Well… Um… It's nice to meet you all, my name is Gabriel." He reaches a hand out to the closest person, and that is Bryan who just looks at him like he has three heads.

"We should go." Kai says to everyone, and starts to turn when Gabe speaks up again. Please no, let them go please.

"Oh, there's no need for that. It's alright, the more the merrier. I never knew Kain had another father and sister, so you're all more than welcome to stay." I'm dead, I've officially just died right there from him saying that.

Everyone looks at him again like he has three heads, it's quiet for a moment until Kyra turns to her father.

"C'mon dad, we didn't come all the way out here to just go home." She pouts a bit, and Kai sighs out.

"Alright." I died again, Kai agreed to stay?! Please tell me I'm dreaming, this has to be a dream, or a nightmare at best.

"Perfect, Ray was just making dinner." Gabe pipes up again, and then eyes are back on me.

"Kain… A word… NOW!" I try to keep my temper in check, but I'm sure my face is just as red as Tala's hair from the anger that's boiling in my stomach.

"Ummm… How bout I show everyone their rooms first?" With that he grabs Kyra by the wrist and hauls her up the stairs, all the while she's cursing at him in Russian.

"Don't run in the house Kain!" Gabe shouts and for a second I see Kai's eyes flash with anger as he pointedly stares at Gabe. Don't start acting like a father to him now Kai.

"C'mon Dimitri!" Kain calls from upstairs, and Dimitri shuffles to the stairs with his fathers behind him, leaving me with the love of my life and my fiancé in the foyer.

"Um… Hi." I manage a meek wave, and now Gabe is looking between the two of us.

Kai just nods to me and now I feel like I should do something other than stand there like a statue, luckily Gabe intervenes, and he comes and stands beside me wrapping an arm over my shoulder.

"Well, I never knew Kain had another father or anything. But it's really nice to meet you…?"

"Kai." Is all he says and that's all he's going to say, I can tell he does not like the situation he's in now.

"Ah. Nice name, kind of matches Kain's doesn't it?" Oh, you just guessed that dear?

"Yeah… I should go get some more stuff since we have more people now." I mumbled and pull myself from Gabe's embrace, the two follow me into the kitchen. I can hear Kai mumble under his breath about how small Gabe's home is compared to his as he follows us, everything of yours is bigger, but I won't tell him _that_.

This time Gabe doesn't stand behind me, he sits at the barstool at the counter at my back, Kai sits a few seats away from him and I can feel both their eyes boring into my back as I go around to get more ingredients.

"So… How is Kai Kain's father if you're his father?" Gabe pipes up, the uncomfortable silence was getting to him.

"I'm the one who gave birth to the kids." I sigh out, and turn to face them both as I lean against the counter next to the stove.

"How?" Gabe looks more confused.

"I'm a neko-jin, and I can get pregnant being with a man. Kyra is our first born, Kain is our second." I explain, but he still looks rather confused. "Kai is my ex." I nod towards Kai and something in Gabe's eyes flash as he turns to look at Kai and then back at me.

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"I never told Kain either, just wasn't something I wanted to disclose to either of you." I shrug. "What I'd like to know is how he found out." I grind my teeth.

"Kyra." My attention turns to Kai since he's decided to grace us with his words, I will my legs not to buckle under how heavenly it sounds.

He had aged well, his two-toned hair a bit more well-kept but for the most part, not much had changed since when we had been together. His body still toned, obvious he was still maintaining his physical health. God, he looks better than I remember him to be. While I look nothing how I used to, not with my shoulder length hair. I cut it because Gabe hated it long, I wonder what Kai thinks of it since he always loved it.

"What?" Is my clever response, after ogling my ex.

"Kyra and Kain met at the Beyblade camp, she told me they met while there and Tyson told them who they were. We were under the impression that you knew." I nod, Kain has been going to the camp for years so why now would he have met his sister?

"I didn't know, Kain hasn't said a damn thing to me." Saying that reminds me that I seriously need to beat my son into next year. "KAIN, GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE, NOW!" I shout at the top of my lungs, I didn't need to, but my anger got the better of me.

We wait for a few seconds as I can hear Kain running upstairs, Kyra must still be with him since she's shouting at him.

"I can't jump that, are you crazy!" She screams out, and then there's a rather loud thud as they both land on the first floor. "What is wrong with you! You could have killed us!" She screeches at him while they come into the kitchen, her face is red, and her hair is a bit disheveled all over.

"You rang?" Kain smirks at me and I throw the wooden spoon at his head, he's too quick and dodges it and it just bounces across the floor behind him. "Best two out of three?" I'm going to kill him.

"Care to explain now? You should have said something about this to us, this wasn't fair to either Gabe or me." I scorn, crossing my arms over my chest.

"I told you, I forgot." He shrugs.

"Right…" I sigh out.

"It's really not a bother dear." Gabe interjects, and he does sound a bit too happy about this all.

"I'm sorry dad, I thought he knew." Kyra comes in and sits beside Kai as she apologizes to him, on the opposite end of where Gabe is.

"What's done is done I suppose." I huff out, since I know Kai won't interject yet.

"Sorry dad, I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that." Kain says as he hands me the spoon I threw at him, I take it and smack the top of his head with it.

"It's fine I guess, Gabe is fine with it, so it doesn't matter now." I turn back to the stove, the water is about to boil over, so I dump the noodles in.

Kain doesn't say anything as he walks around to the bar and sits beside Kai, he was too young to remember him, but damn does he look just like him at that age. Both my children do, they have my hair but Kain has the slate highlights where Kyra has my full color. Both their eyes are crimson like his, why couldn't I have had one look more like me? I'm the one who endured nine months, aches and cramps. It's not fair I tell you. Glancing back once more at my daughter I can see she has my face shape, and I smile a bit at that.

"How long are you staying?" Kain starts, the silence was better, and I would have liked it to stay that way.

"We were going to stay till New Year's, remember?" Kyra bites back.

"Oh, Yeah!" Kain claps his hands together and I look over my shoulder to see Gabe's reaction, he just smiles at me and that tells me he doesn't mind. I wish he did though.

"Great." I mumble, and go back to stirring the noodles.

Finally, it's quiet again, but I can still feel Kai's stare at my back and that makes me nervous. He's probably waiting for me to explain to him why I never told Kain about him, and I can only suspect he's not going to be very happy when he does. Great.

The other three Russian's came down for dinner, they kept to themselves speaking in Russian and I wondered if I should have told them that Gabe could speak it too but decided against it. He kept tensing and his eyebrows were furrowed through half the meal, so I can only guess they were saying some unpleasant things about him.

Kyra sat with Kai and Dimitri on her other side, where I sat across from her and I could tell she was trying to avoid looking at me where I could only stare at her. Kain was on my other side, facing Dimitri and I could tell he was trying to get his attention just by looking but they never said anything. Gabe sat on my other side at the head of the table while Bryan was on the other end with Tala at the corner next to Dimitri, there was an open seat beside me, but I don't think Tala wanted to sit beside me or Gabe.

"Dinner was great, as always dear." Gabe compliments me, getting up from his spot and kisses me on the forehead before taking his plate into the space of the kitchen behind me.

"I have some forms to fill, I'll see you in a little bit. It was nice meeting you all, just make yourselves at home." He waves to everyone before walking through the archway of the kitchen. NO! Don't leave me here! It's too late, he's left me to die.

"C'mon, let's go play on the Xbox. I brought mine, since Gabe doesn't have one." Kain pipes up, I guess my own son wants to see me killed now.

He grabs Dimitri by the wrist over the table and with that they're gone, Kyra sighs and follows, not wanting to leave her friend alone with her brother and his parents follow behind quietly after saying something to Kai in Russian who just nods.

This, this is awkward. Being left alone, abandoned by my child and fiancé to deal with my ex. I try not to look him in the eyes as I gather everyone's plates that they left on the table, shuffling around till I'm in the space of the kitchen getting a good distance from him. He doesn't like that idea though and takes a seat back at the barstool he had previously sat at, and he's just watching me.

"Kai…" I manage out, but I don't look at him.

"Ray." His voice is cold, and I don't blame him for being angry at me.

We sit in silence for a minute or two, as I await my inevitable death. Why me?

* * *

 **Kai's POV**

It had been fourteen years and he looked completely different. I didn't realize how different he looked with his hair cut short. Why did he have to cut it? Not that he looked bad without it, but his long hair suited him better than how it was now. I could tell he was doing his best to try and avoid starting the conversation, continuously looking away and fidgeting with his fingers. He was nervous.

"Kyra looks to be doing well. She grew up into a beautiful young woman." He said quietly, still not looking me in the eye.

I nodded. "Kain seems to be a piece of work."

Ray made a face, a mix between a laugh and a scowl, obviously taking slight offence to my comment. "He's a good kid. Just has a big personality. Can you really judge when you haven't been a part of his life since he was born?"

I shook my head. "That isn't my fault when you were the one who took me out of it in the first place."  
"I gave you so many chances! I tried to give you time with him but all you ever did was work and leave Kyra with me! I tried to keep things civil and you ended up moving to god knows where, taking our daughter with you." He cried, his voice starting to raise with anger.

"I had to leave." I stated simply. I didn't owe it to him to explain myself. He was the one who decided to end things. I would have stayed and tried to work things out if he had given me another chance to.

"Really? You had to suddenly leave, taking our daughter and not telling me where you were or giving me any kind of connection with her. Do you know how much that hurt me? To suddenly find out she was gone?" He spilled out.

"Do you know how it affected me when you kept her from me for a month?" I growled back, referring to one of the darkest periods of my life.

"You cannot even compare that. A month is different than missing out on fourteen years. What possible excuse could you have for doing that to me?" Ray challenged.

"She's all I have. You took her away from me before, I didn't want to risk it again." I shot back.

"Kai…" Ray murmured.

"Forget it. Coming here was obviously a mistake since it's obvious all we're going to do is argue like before. We'll stay the night but as of tomorrow, we're leaving. You can enjoy Christmas with your 'perfect' new boyfriend." I sneered.

"Fiancé." He corrected with his own sneer, at that my heart dropped. When?

Before I had a chance to counter, Kain came into the kitchen. His pale face red with anger as he stood in the archway of this puny kitchen.

"Since fucking when?!" He shouted at Ray, who let out a breath of air.

"Not now Kain, what do you want?"

"Came to get the other two some drinks..." He sneered, looking like a completely different boy than from before. More like me than I had seen him to act.

"We'll discuss this later, Kain. For now, show Kai his room please." Ray breathed out, but it didn't seem to relax Kain any.

His pupils were slit like I've seen Ray's do when angry, he closed them and let out a breath and then turned to me, his pupils round once again. He motioned with the nod of his head and I pushed myself away from the bar, following him through the archway of the kitchen and living room. The foyer's archway was directly on my right and I followed him through it and around to the stairs on the left, for once he wasn't running around or bouncing and I could tell he was still tense.

I was more apprehensive about it, what do you say to your son you've never known? I knew nothing about him, only getting snippets of his personality, which seemed to flip on and off like a switch. He stood just under my chin, standing taller than Ray who was still at my chest. We climbed the stairs in silence while I glanced at him every now and then, arguing with myself to say something to him but I never did.

"Kyra and my room are down there, hers is the last door on the left behind that wall sticking out. Dimitri and his parents are in the room across from yours." He explained, pointing down the hall on our right and then heading to the left down another hall.

On the landing there was another sitting area with a door that lead out to a patio, it was so dark out I couldn't see through the glass door or windows. He came to the door on our right, opening it and stepping in.

"Sorry, I have to grab some of my stuff." He mumbled and went about the room to the dresser at the corner of the room. "Bathrooms through that door, there should be enough space now in the dresser for your things."

"This is your room?" I don't know why I felt nervous asking that, he stops stuffing his clothes into a bag he placed on the bed to my left of the door.

"Only when we stay here, it's the furthest from Gabe's room and I have a nice view of the lake out back."

"So, you and Ray don't live here?" I could feel my eyebrow raise and he raised one to, but it was more of a mock questioning look he held.

"No, but it looks like that's about to change." He said while gritting his teeth, I could tell he didn't like that and frankly neither did I.

"Well… Um, thanks kid." I side stepped as he walked by.

"I'm fifteen." He corrected while walking past me, stopping in the doorway to look over his shoulder. "Night, old man."

"I'm not old." I scowled, and he just smiled at me, once again his personality switching on me.

"And I'm not kid." He bit back, something in his eyes told me was trying to challenge me.

"Whatever." He chuckled at my words and my eyebrow twitched.

"I'm gonna go have a smoke, I'll see you in the morning." I felt my eyebrow twitch again.

"You're fifteen." I didn't think I had the right to stop him, even if he was my son, I felt like I had no parental standing over him.

"Glad you remembered, don't tell dad though." With that he waved at me and left down the hall.

* * *

 **Ray's POV**

"That mother fuckin. Good for nothing. Son of a bitch. Cock sucking Jackass!" Gabe's mouth just hangs open as he listens to my rantings again for the third time since I came to his room.

He's sitting on his bed watching me pace the space before the bed, stopping every now and then to shout something out about Kai. God, I can't fucking stand him!

"I can't fucking stand him! Can you believe it? He had the audacity to blame me for why he took Kyra all these years, me?! I had her one month, I would have NEVER kept her from him or did what he's done to me." I tell nobody in particular, just because Gabe is here doesn't mean I'm actually telling him.

"Hey, it's alright. She's here now, a bit unexpected and all, but I don't mind."

"Pfft, yeah and in the morning, he's dragging her back to god knows where." I roll my eyes, and then stop my pacing. I have to stop that, this is my first time seeing her since she was three, I can't just let him take her again.

"How about you go relax a bit, with a nice warm shower?" Gabe stands and places his hands on my shoulders, standing behind me and even though he's trying to rub them I'm too tense to actually enjoy it.

"Not tonight." I pull away and head to the bathroom door on my left, his bed is on my right on the other side of his room with the bedroom door behind me.

I slip through the door, he's right behind me and I slam the door in his face.

"When I suggested that you take a shower, I meant with me." He pouts behind the door and I just smirk at him from behind it.

"Oops, did you dear? I'm so sorry." I fake an innocent voice, but I don't unlock the door while I strip and start the shower.

"Ray? Ray open the door." I tune him out as I step into his glass shower at the corner of the bathroom, he'll stop eventually and right now I just want to be left alone.

As I thought he's done standing by the door, while I'm just standing under the spray of the shower lost in my thoughts and emotions. I have to find a way to keep Kai and Kyra here, I can't lose her again just because we fought again, I'm pretty sure that's going to be a common occurrence anyways. I have to do it tonight though, who knows when he'll get everyone up in order to leave. I make my plan, shampooing my hair and rinsing. I'll go when Gabe is asleep, and the others should be as well, if I know him right he won't be asleep so soon after a fight.

By the time I'm done showering, which really did nothing to soothe my nerves or temper, Gabe is passed out on his bed. I go about the bedroom normally; the house could cave in and Gabe would sleep right through it not to mention I'm naturally light on my feet. I dress in some night clothes, simple baggy shirt and black silk shorts that reach my knees. I slip out of the bedroom, my hearing already picking up everyone's deep and shallow breathing as they're asleep.

I can hear him through the room Kain normally stays in down the hall on the left from the stairs, while I can hear my children out on the patio. I reach his door a bit quicker than I intended and breathe in deeply before knocking, I can hear him shift around but he's still stomping as he walks so I know he's still fueled from our argument.

"What?" He narrows his eyes at me and I just push past him into the room, he can't really object since he is in my fiancés house. "I'm not in the mood Kon."

"Oh, really I didn't notice." I say off handedly, probably not the best thing to say but it slipped. "Look, I'm not here to argue again. I just wanted to ask you to stay." At this an eyebrow raises at me and he shifts against the now closed door with his arms crossed.

"I told you we're leaving in the morning."

"Yeah, I heard you, but I don't give a shit. You can't just show up and then leave again, I haven't seen my daughter in fourteen years. Think about that, let that actually sink in for a minute. I, the one who gave birth to her, have not seen her in fourteen years." I pause and even though he may not care, he seems to be mulling it over. "We'll stay away from each other, you and I. Let me have my time with my daughter, please."

"Fine." He bites out at me.

"Thank you." I make sure to sound sincere, because I am grateful that he's agreed to stay. "I'll… I'll see you in the morning then." I start back to the door, even though he's still blocking it.

"Congratulations… By the way." I stop in front of him and just look at him like he grew three heads.

"What?" I don't know why that's the first thing to always come out of my mouth after looking into those eyes of his, but damn they're still so gorgeous not to stare into.

"Getting engaged?" He says rather sarcastically.

"Oh… Yeah, thanks." I'd rather be engaged to you, but that's not happening. "The wedding will be in two months, if you don't mind letting Kyra come."

"That's up to her." He shrugs, and I nod. I can understand it if she'd be nervous about it since she doesn't really know me.

"Alright, thanks… Night Kai."

"Night Ray." Why did he sound flirty when he said that?

It takes him a minute to move, nodding his head to me as he moves, and I return the gesture with my own before slipping through the door. Now I can breathe a bit easier, I can already feel my muscles relax as I head back downstairs. Maybe I won't beat my son into next year after all.


	12. Chapter 12

**Kain's POV**

Having to show Kai his room was beyond awkward, I've never met the guy before and I could tell he was just as uncomfortable as I was about having to be stuck beside me. I never realized what a burden I was on him, not my fault though since he was the one who knocked my dad up. I can tell where my looks come from now though, I look just like him. If he thought he was intimidating it didn't work out all that well for him though, I can glare with the best of them to. Just thinking about him right now, hasn't helped my stress level any so after putting my bag in my new room I head out onto the back porch.

Already the smell of cigarettes is floating by and Kyra's perfume with the night time air and the smell of the lake, she's perched on a lounge chair facing the lake and hasn't noticed me. I wonder if she got less of dad's neko-jin genes than I have, she's not very fast or alert. It wasn't something I thought of back at the camp, since we didn't find out we were siblings till near the end of it all.

"Care if I join you?" I ask, and she jumps.

"God what is wrong with you?! You can't just sneak up on people like that!" She shouts and narrows her eyes at me.

"I wasn't sneaking." I defend, which is the truth, I just have light steps.

"What're you doing out here?" She cocks an eyebrow at me as I sit on the railing of the patio, being part cat gives me perfect balance.

"Smoking." Both her eyebrows go up at that.

"I didn't know you did."

"Have been for two years now, don't worry about dad smelling it on you his sense of smell is dulled, and I already told Kai I was coming out here." I light my own, and inhale.

"What'd he say?" She sits up more against the back of the lounge chair.

"Nothing really, just reminded me of my age." I shrug, truth be told I wasn't excepting him to say much about it anyways, he maybe my father and all but he has no right to start acting like it.

"Lucky you, he had my head for a week until he just accepted it. He smokes too."

"I know, I can smell it on him." I shrug again, blowing out a cloud over my shoulder. "When did you start?

"Two years ago, like you… How? Like, you jump the space of the second floor and always land on your feet. Dimitri couldn't hit you back at the camp, are you like superhuman or something?" Now both her eyebrows are higher, and I smirk at her.

"Guess Kai never told you that you're part neko-jin then, did he?"

"A who and a what now?" Her faces falls, and I have to bite back a laugh.

"Neko-jin, part cat. Dads a full neko-jin, that's how he was able to have us. You're part neko-jin just like I am, but I guess you just didn't get the genes like I did." I shrug, and she looks a bit confused, so I open my mouth and point at my fangs. "See?"

"Nope, I don't have those." She sounds bored now and rests back against her seat.

"Well yeah, because of all that I can do a lot of things others can't." I shrug, becoming bored of the conversation as well and we go quiet for a minute, finishing our cigarettes and grabbing another at the same time.

"You didn't forget, did you?" She breaks the silence and I turn back to face her, having been starring off at the lake.

"Forget what?"

"Telling Ray we were coming." She sighs out exasperated.

"Oh, no I just didn't tell him."

"Why?! You realize how much trouble we could have gotten into?" She yells at me.

" _You_ weren't going to get in trouble." I correct, and she closes her mouth quickly. "Besides, it's pay back. One of them could have been the bigger man here and told us about each other, don't you think? Instead of us having to find out about the other the way we did, all my life I thought I had a mother. Which obviously was an odd thing to say since dad is gay, but still. I was lied to, you were lied to, I was just giving them a taste of their own medicine."

"I suppose you're right, seeing everyone's faces was pretty priceless." She chuckles, and I smile with her. "I remember Ray, just a little bit but it's not much…"

"Hold on a sec." I interrupt her, my hearing picking up dad and Kai talking in the house.

"What're you doing?"

"Shut up for a second." I swat a hand in her direction, climbing off the railing and going to the other end of the patio so I can hear better.

She follows me and leans against the railing beside me, both of us still with our new cigarettes between our lips. She can't hear them, and keeps giving me questioning looks.

"Yeah, I heard you, but I don't give a shit. You can't just show up and then leave again, I haven't seen my daughter in fourteen years. Think about that, let that actually sink in for a minute. I, the one who gave birth to her, have not seen her in fourteen years." I can hear dad say to Kai and he sounds pissed.

"Well, he missed you." I tell Kyra since she can't hear them, but she doesn't really react.

"We'll stay away from each other, you and I. Let me have my time with my daughter, please." Dad's pleading now, something I've never heard him do.

"Fine." Kai's voice still sounds angry, and I would punch him if I was there for having talked to dad that way. I thought Kyra said he was still in love with him?

"Thank you, I'll… I'll see you in the morning then." So, they're staying then, that's good.

"Congratulations… By the way." Kai doesn't sound all that pleased, so maybe he does still love dad.

"What?" Smooth move dad.

"Getting engaged?" I can see where Kyra and I get our sarcasm from now, it's practically dripping from Kai every time he speaks.

"Oh… Yeah, thanks…The wedding will be in two months, if you don't mind letting Kyra come." I tense and grind my teeth. Two months?! Kyra beside me gives me a questioning look, seeing me tense like that might have thrown her off a bit.

"That's up to her."

"Alright, thanks… Night Kai." I can hear dad's feet shuffling around in the room.

"Night Ray." Why did Kai sound flirty when he said that?!

Dad's footsteps make their way down the hall and down the stairs, Kai paces the room a few times before I can't hear him moving so I assume he laid down in the bed. I push off the railing and sigh, we have two months to stop this wedding, the one I just learned about at that.

"So? What happened?" Kyra asks as we head back to where we were sitting before.

"You're going to get to stay, dad talked it out with Kai. He wants you here for the wedding, but Kai said that was up to you. It won't matter since there won't be one, at least not unless it's their wedding." I explain to her, and her eyebrows go up once more.

"You said they were just dating."

"Shit, I forgot to tell you. No, apparently, they're engaged now. Must have happened when we were at camp, because before that they weren't." I try to hide my temper, but my blood is boiling now.

"Do you think that's going to make it harder to split them up? If Ray loves Gabe that much." I hold a hand up to stop her and she scowls at me before closing her mouth.

"No, he doesn't love Gabe. He's just with him because it helps him forget Kai, you'll see it the more you hang around here. Sure, they act all lovingly around other people, but dad can't stand him. Why he's still with him, I have no clue." She just nods at me.

"Dad's the same way at home, always having a different guy over every day or week." She breathes out and I can tell it bothers her a bit. "For a while it bothered me, and I didn't understand why he never settled down with one of them, but I guess it makes sense if he still loved Ray."

"That's where you and I come in dear sister." I smirk at her and she shakes her head with a slight chuckle.

"Damn this is weird…" She says through her giggles and I nod at that.

"Damn straight it is… Um, here." I dig into my pocket and hand her a pair of earplugs, she looks at them in my hand and then at me for a moment cocking an eyebrow at me once again.

"What am I supposed to do with those?"

"You might not have the hearing of a neko-jin, but your room is right above Gabe's and dad's. You'll thank me later." Her face pales a bit at that and she snatches them from my hand. "Trust me, be glad you can't hear all that well. Even at the back of the house, and with those, god it's terrible." I shudder for emphasis and she laughs.

"Thank you for those mental images, I really didn't need sleep tonight anyways." She rolls her eyes after calming down.

"Ha, ha. I'm gonna go on a walk." I wave at her and turn to face the railing, pulling myself over the top of it.

"Can you land that?"

"Do it all the time sis." I smirk over my shoulder at her and push off, perfectly landing on my feet like I always do. "See you in the morning!" I call out waving to her as I take off down the back yard.

"Weird kid." I can hear her mumble.

I don't go far, just out to the opposite side of the lake. Needing to be away from the home to think over things, I was hoping coming back home would have calmed me down but I'm still fighting with my emotions. Finding out dads engaged has only fueled my temper more, but even the littlest things have been setting me off. I don't know what's wrong, but I don't like this change in me. I wasn't really expecting Dimitri and his parents being here, but I have to make the best of it now since there isn't much I can do about it now. If I wasn't two hours away from Matt I'd have gone to see him tonight, but since I can't I'm stuck here, and he still hasn't called or text me since I've been here.

I pull Driger out of my pocket and set it in the launcher, spinning him and meditating always seems to help. I release him from the launcher and sit down, folding my hands over my lap as I cross my legs in the damp grass. The sound of him spinning is soothing and I summon him out of his bit, he comes over and wraps himself around my back where I can rest against him.

"Haven't seen him in a while." I almost jumped out of my skin, having been so lost in my thoughts I didn't sense Kai coming up.

"How'd you find me?" I ask, but I don't stand.

"Kyra told me you came out here." He shrugs and then stands there like he's nervous again.

"Okay… So why did you come here?" I ask, and his eyes go dark for a moment.

"I wanted to let you know that I don't appreciate being lied to or tricked, and I'm sure Ray doesn't either." He starts, and I hold a hand up and he stops, but not without growling in his throat at me.

"Don't do this, not right now. I understand what I did was wrong, but what you and dad have done to us was just as wrong." I say and stare at him pointedly, I can tell he doesn't like that and his eyes narrow at me.

"Listen boy, whatever reason Ray had for not telling you about us is on him, not me." He growls out, but him calling me boy fuels the anger I already had in me.

"One, my name is Kain, got it? Kain Taxon Hiwatari. That is my name, not boy not kid. Secondly, I don't know his reasonings for not telling me but you're just at fault. Kyra had no clue who I was when we met, and that falls on _you_." I sneer out the last part and he goes quiet again.

"Why are we here then?" He sighs out, guess he realizes that dads not the only one at fault here.

"Simple, we're getting you and dad back together. I get to spend time with my sister." He pales a bit more than his normal color at the first part of my sentence.

"Ray's engaged…"

"So? I don't like Gabe, dad doesn't like Gabe. You still love dad, Kyra told me. I'm guessing dad still loves you, to an extent."

"Why don't you like Gabe, he seems like a good enough person as it is." That's all he had to say to that?!

"Never have liked him, he's too good, if you get what I'm saying. I think dad just stuck with him because he was comfortable with it, not really sure." I shrug my shoulders, by now my blade has stopped spinning and Driger is gone from behind my back.

"Whatever happened between the two of you, I'm sure you can work out." I start and pick my blade up, standing and putting it back into my pocket. "You did tell him you were staying, so might as well make the most of it."

"H… How did you know that?"

"Part neko-jin! God I'm getting tired of having to tell everyone that." I sigh out and slump my shoulders in defeat.

"Oh… Yeah..." I can't really say if this guy is as smart as he looks now or not.

"Why didn't you ever tell Kyra she was?" I stand up straight again to meet his gaze.

"Just didn't." He shrugs at me, now I know where I get that twitch from too.

"What a wonderful excuse." I roll my eyes and he grimaces at me.

"How long were you staying out here?" He asks after a moment of silence passes us.

"Probably till three or four." I shrug.

"Ray doesn't care?"

"Ray, doesn't know." I smirk, and a fang sticks out.

"Really thought you would have turned out differently than this…" He mumbles but I heard him and that irks me more.

"Hey! Don't go criticizing dad for MY choices. Sure, I'm no angel and I'm sure Kyra isn't either. But you don't see dad criticizing your parenting, not telling Kyra about us and all that. You have no right to come up and act like you're the better parent or some shit." I bite out and my pupils slit.

"Better watch what you say boy." He takes a step at me, but I stand my ground.

"Or what? I've punched dad, I can punch you just the same." I threaten, and he pauses for a second.

"You did what?!"

"It was meant for Gabe, but Dad got in the way." I shrug a bit, but I can still see his eyes burning with anger. "Look, I'm not in the mood for doing this right now so just go back to the house."

He doesn't say anything, but he leaves like I told him to. I can still see his muscles are tense, and once he's gone around the bend of the lake mine relax. I need another cigarette and sit back down into the grass, that was NOT how I wanted my second conversation going with him. These damn mood swings are getting to me more than I can take, maybe dad can help me because I don't want to be the reason our plans go hay-wire.

I shift to pull my phone out, popping my cigarette between my lips in order to hold the phone with both hands and text Kyra.

[Tell Kai I'm sorry for fighting with him.] I press send and wait a minute for my phone to light up when she texts back.

[You got into a fight?!] I smirk, just picturing how priceless her face must look.

[Not with fists no, just arguing. Let him know I'm sorry, I didn't mean to over step and be disrespectful. Somethings up with me, I'll talk to dad about it in the morning though.]

[Okay, he'd appreciate it more if you tell him personally though.] Came her response a few seconds later.

[I will, we need to cool down first though.] Hopefully my excuse was good enough for her, hitting the send button and then shutting my phone off.

Falling back onto the grass with my cigarette between my lips, placing my hands under my head and crossing my right leg over the other. The air is cold, but it doesn't bother me all that much and being outside has calmed me down more. I could feel myself getting tired and before I knew it, I was out like a light after finishing my cigarette.

When I woke up the dew had settled on my hair and skin, leaving it slightly slick and chilled. My back was stiff from having been laying in the grass, sitting up it popped the more I stretched out. It was still dark out, possibly three in the morning, I didn't bother turning my phone back on since I was heading back to the house anyways.

As I made it closer I could see the lights on in the kitchen, causing that corner of the house to cast a glow onto the water of the pool that sat to my right on the deck. I jumped the four stairs up, already picking up the conversation from inside the kitchen before I even slipped in through the side door. Walking the six steps down the small hall and turning left into the kitchen dad and Kai both fell silent as I stepped in, Kai with a cup of coffee sitting in front of him while dad was leaned against the counter facing him with some tea.

"Where have you been?!" Dad starts as I step further into the space of the kitchen towards the coffee machine, pouring myself a cup before sitting on the other side of the stove away from him.

"Just out by the lake… Why are you up so early?" I tilt my head a bit to read the clock on the stove, it's barely 3:30 in the morning.

"I have to go check on the restaurant, somethings come up again. Gabe was called two hours ago so he's at work right now… You alright?" He breathed out, his shoulders relaxing a bit.

"Um… Can we talk, a bit more privately?" I scratched the back of my head, glancing at Kai who doesn't seem all that interested in the conversation.

"Oh… Yeah, go get changed and you can come with me. I'm going to stop by the house on the way back anyways."

I nod and sip at my coffee twice before jumping off the counter, setting it behind me and turn to face Kai across from me at the bar.

"Sorry for earlier." I bowed low, showing him a bit more respect than I should have but after all he was my father.

"What'd you do now?" Dad sighed out as I straightened up, Kai didn't say anything, but his eyes had gone a bit wide from my display.

"We had a fight- just arguing I didn't punch him." I quickly hold my hands up defensively before dad can lash out.

"What am I going to do with you?" Dad breathes out shaking his head with his eyes closed, I feel a bit guilty for doing what I've done so I step up to him.

"I'm sorry dad, I really am… For everything these past few months, I just… I don't feel like myself right now." He cracks open a golden eye at me and then closes it again with a sigh.

"It's alright, I was hoping you wouldn't have endured it but it's normal."

"How is this normal?" Kai pipes in, I had almost forgotten he was there.

"It's just his first heat, the next one won't be so hard on him." My WHAT?!

"What are you talking about?" I cock an eyebrow, and for some reason Kai looks a bit paler like he knows what dad's talking about.

"Being part neko-jin I was hoping you wouldn't have to suffer it, but it's what will cause you to get pregnant. So please, when you're with Matt make sure you're protecting yourselves."

"Good thing I'm top most of the time then." I didn't mean to say that out loud and dad shakes his head and Kai scoffs behind his mug.

"I didn't want to know." Dad whines out.

"You're okay with him having sex at this age?" Kai comes back into the conversation, I should have waited till we were gone.

"I can't sit on top of him all the time Kai, we weren't exactly practicing celibacy at that age either, in case you forgot." Dad bites back, but Kai still doesn't look impressed.

"Kyra's not a virgin either." I offer with a shrug, trying to loosen the tension between the two.

Kai's face goes red with anger, guess he didn't know that, whoops. I'll have to apologize to her later when I get back, but for now I'll just go get ready.

"I'm gonna go now." I wave and dash out of the kitchen.

By the time I came back down the stairs, walking down them as I fixed my white scarf around my neck, dad was already in the foyer waiting for me by the door. Kai was leaning against the window with his arms crossed, I don't know why he keeps following dad everywhere but it's becoming a bit unnerving.

"Is that mine?" Kai raises an eyebrow at me. Yes, I am your son how nice of you to finally notice.

"He found it a few years ago in a box I packed, I accidentally took it when I left." Dad sighs out, now I'm confused.

"What're you two talking about?" I ask coming to the bottom of the stairs.

"The scarf, it was Kai's." Dad explains, and I make an o with my mouth in understanding.

"Do you want it back?"

"No, you keep it. It suits you." Was that a compliment? I try not to smile, and just nod to him.

"Why are you still up anyways?" That question had been in my head the moment I got into the house.

"I'm not comfortable sleeping somewhere new, never have been." He shrugs at me.

"Same here, that's why I was at the lake." He just nods, and dad clears his throat.

"Were you coming with me or not?"

"Yeah." I quickly bridge the space of the foyer to where he's standing, hand on the door already and I turn back to Kai. "See you later." I wave and he just nods.

"Gabe shouldn't be back before I am, so just make yourself comfortable. Tell Kyra I said I'll see her later, please?" Dad asks as he opens the door and Kai just nods again before dad slips out the door, with me following behind him.

"Kain…" I don't like the tone in my dad's voice as we walk to his car, I chance a side glance at him and he's frowning rather hard. Maybe I should have stayed at the house.


	13. Chapter 13

**Ray's POV**

I glanced over at Kain, he wasn't looking anywhere but at his hands folded in his lap. Good, he better be nervous for what he's done to me. I wasn't ready yet to start laying into him though, let him seep in his nervousness since the drive to the restaurant will take an hour anyways. He keeps fidgeting in his seat, tugging at the ends of his scarf every now and then. He's going to snap any second, and we've barely made it down the road.

"Okay, enough with the silent treatment dad!" He whines out at me and I shake my head at him, where does he get off being this way towards me?

"Too much for your guilty conscience son?" I smirk, and he bristles a bit.

"I'm sorry! Okay, I'm sorry I didn't tell you I found her. But why? Why didn't you ever tell me?" He holds back a growl in his throat, but I heard it all the same.

My hands tighten on the steering wheel, I don't really bother to look at him again and take in a breath of air as much as I can. How do I explain myself after all these years?

"It hurt." His head snaps towards me and I sigh again, willing myself not to cry or have my voice crack.

"What do you mean?" He cocks an eyebrow at me.

"Just that… It hurt to try and tell you about them, after Kai just up and left us with Kyra… You're too young to remember, but I wasn't nearly there for you as much as I should have been because of it. It took all Max had to keep me from going over the deep end, more than once. I'm not proud of it but I was drinking a lot, hardly around the house and by the time I came out of it all I didn't want to relive that." I breathe out, taking a moment to look at him and his mouth is slightly open.

"Were you… You know… Suicidal?" I just nod to him, I'm not proud of it since I had him to take care of during that time, but it felt like my entire heart had been ripped out of my chest after I lost my daughter.

He doesn't look ready to say anything, so I start again. "I lied to you because I wanted to protect you, and myself, from feeling that way. Kai never contacted me, when he was around he never bothered to try to be around you, so I didn't need him to hurt you too. Kyra… I could have told you about her, but then you'd ask about Kai and it's just the same story again. I felt it was better you didn't know, telling you had a mother instead of telling you that I gave birth to you."

"You know, that story about a mother was obviously weird. You're gay for heavens sake!" He laughs, and I feel myself smile a bit.

"True, but you never seemed to question it so." I shrug, and my hands are lax on the steering wheel now. "I just didn't want to see you get hurt, I'm sorry for not telling you. But, why couldn't you have told me you met Kyra, that you were bringing them here?"

"Pay back. I understand why you did what you did, but seriously dad. You should know me by now, this was just too good not to have told you." He says with a smirk where his fang sticks out, his cocky attitude washing away his nervousness.

I reach over and smack him upside his head. "I don't appreciate it!" I scorn, but I can't help but chuckle myself. "I actually don't mind… I'm glad they're here… Well, Kyra. Of course." He rolls his eyes, I'm not that obvious, am I?

"Uh hu, sure dad… I can see why you liked him, he's not bad looking. Not very bright, at least that I've seen." He says, and I roll my eyes again.

"Your father is actually very smart, you're lucky you have that trait because if you were stuck with my brains, you'd have flunked out every grade since starting school."

"Ah, well to me he doesn't seem so smart." Kain shrugged, and rested a bit more easily in his seat. I just shook my head at my son, this was going to be an interesting two months.

By the time we reached the restaurant the tension between us was gone, he talked up a storm about his last month of camp after finding Kyra and he were siblings. Apparently, Kyra and Dimitri have a thing, and he's already brainstorming ways to get them together. I don't mind if Kyra and Dimitri were to get together, I'm sure with parents like Tala and Bryan the kids got a good head on his shoulders, and I can already tell she won't put up with his crap.

Of course, the problem with the restaurant was just more numbers. The contractors were having a fit because their cheques bounced. Why it happened I don't know, I was sure to have enough in the business account. I'm not even sure which contractor this company works for either, we've had so many in and out of this whole fiasco that I've lost count. Gabe has hired a few on his own, since he'll be co-owner and all.

I checked the account, and of course the numbers that were there the other day aren't. I apologized to the lead contractor, having to transfer funds out of my personal account into the business one, something I've been having to do since I started trying to get this up and running.

The main building is finished, it's just all the electrical things that need to be placed in now along with the plumbing. Next month we should have power and water, then we'll have the appliances put in and the rest of the décor.

After getting everything squared away at the restaurant, Kain and I piled back into my car and we headed off back to our home. I wasn't all that surprised when Kain bolted out of the car, though once he was inside he stopped dead in his tracks; Matt wasn't home and we both knew this because we couldn't hear him.

"Hey guys." Max smiles at us, trying to avoid my now sulking son as he goes to his room. "Didn't expect to see you guys back so soon, Kain send Gabe to the hospital or loony bin yet?" He smirked, and I shook my head no.

"No, you won't believe what your godson did to me though!" I couldn't hold back my whine this time and Max frowned.

"He's your son before he's my godson, don't pin this on me." He said jokingly and sat down at the bar, I came up beside him and sat down with my head against the counter.

"Kai's here." I mumbled, and he nearly fell off his stool.

"HOW?!"

"Kain 'invited' them over for Christmas… He didn't tell me, you can imagine the heart attack I had when they showed up on Gabe's doorstep last night. Kyra's here to."

"I thought you knew he found them?" I rose my head and gave him a questioning look.

"How the hell would I have known that?" I didn't mean to bite back, but it was slowly becoming obvious I was the last to know of this.

"Well, I guess since your phone had been off that first month of camp you wouldn't. When you said you had talked to Kain, I thought you knew, but since we fought I guess I forgot to really make sure you did know." I simply nodded, okay so that was why my phone had been blown up by Tyson and Max.

"God I'm so stupid…" My head hit the counter again. "They're staying till New Year's… I asked Kai if Kyra could stay for the wedding, said it was up to her."

"How'd Kai react to finding out you're engaged?" He asked, a hint of teasing in his words.

"Don't even suggest anything, you hear me?" I growled out, but he just laughed. "I don't know, we fought before bed and then it seemed to go alright. This morning I found him downstairs drinking coffee, and we actually had a civil conversation for once." I smiled a bit, it was a nice conversation about our kids until Kain came in from outside.

"And oh Max, he's SO hot and gorgeous. My legs are weak just thinking about it all over again!" Max said in a teasing tone again, laughing loudly till I punched him.

"I said don't." I scorned but my own smile came to my lips, I wasn't going to lie, Kai did look good, like always. "Yes Max, he's the same old same old Kai. Still stomping around thinking the world and the people in it are useless. I have to go grab some stuff from my room." I pushed away from the counter as the front door opened, Kain came bounding out of his room upon smelling Matt's scent as he stepped inside. Oh no.

Kain came to an abrupt halt, his smile fading quickly even though he tried to keep it on his face. Matt's hand that had been holding the small petite girls dropped quickly, and he looked between Kain and the girl for a moment. Max sighed loudly beside me and stood up, we needed to be ready incase the two started going at it.

"Hey." Kain waved to Matt and he only nodded, but I could hear the hurt in my son's voice.

"Um, Kain this is Brittany. Brittany this is my friend Kain, he lives with me and all. That's his dad, Ray." Matt said quickly, his eyes still shifting nervously between Kain and Brittany.

Kain stepped up, his back was rigid, and I felt myself move forward slightly. This was going to go either two ways, he'd be fine and act like it didn't bother him or he'd blow up in Matt's face about this. Luckily for the rest of us he chose the first option, nodding his head towards the two of them. He looked to be indifferent, putting on a mask much like Kai would do when he didn't want to show he actually cared about something.

"It's nice to meet you." He said, and he shook the girls hand, but there was tension in the air and I could hear Kain's heart beating rapidly in his chest.

"It's nice to meet you to, Matt hasn't really told me much about you, but I recognize you from the TV. You're really good at blading, I'm not a blader myself but it looks fun."

"Thanks, maybe Matt could show you a few things. I have to go help my dad, it was nice meeting you." He didn't even bother to look at Matt when he started for the stairs, Matt looked completely lost now and his foot moved forward, and he started after Kain up the stairs.

"Let them deal with it." Max sighed out, sitting back down on the stool and his words caused Brittany to give us both questioning looks.

"Brother spat, that's all." I lied, but she didn't need to know, and it seemed to be enough as she just nodded and sat down at the table by the door flipping her cell phone open.

I came back down and sat beside Max, not really wanting to bother my son right now and already I could hear their conversation. Max leaned over, so I could relay what was going on, he frowned but didn't say anything.

"I haven't heard from you in months! I've been stuck at fucking Gabe's since August, the least you could have done was called me up and said hi." Kain shouted out, he wasn't whining but angry. His voice wasn't loud enough though to where the others could hear it downstairs.

"I've been busy, I'm sorry."

"I can see that." Kain spat out and I can just picture the eye roll Matt received. "You're my best friend and you couldn't take three minutes just to shoot me a text? I've had more conversations with Kyra these past months, and she was in a different time zone!" Kain shouted again, so that's who he had been texting all this time.

"Look, I'm sorry Kain."

"How long?" He cut in before Matt could even finish.

"How long what?" Matt asked, but I could tell in his voice he knew what it was Kain was asking.

"How long have you been with her?" He sneered out, emphasizing on the 'her' part.

"Her name is Brittany, she's in our grade at school so you should recognize her at least. We started seeing each other four weeks after we got back from camp, why should it matter to you?" I had to shake my head, wrong choice of words Matt, wrong choice of words.

"Do you want me to go, or you?" Max asked, and I held a hand up to stop him from moving.

"Hold on, just wait a second." I told him, and he nodded.

"It doesn't…" Kain couldn't have sounded more unconvincing if he tried.

The two may have never been something solid, but I could see that he was in love with Matt. Whether he wanted to admit it to himself or not, I could see it in the way he'd look at him when Matt wasn't looking. He'd never openly show it, just how Kai was before we got together, even if he didn't know I knew he was looking at me. I can't say the same for Matt, he never seemed to take their relationship seriously when they were dating. What they did together, neither Max or I were happy about it but there wasn't much we could do to stop it since the boys shared a room and all.

"Then why are you so worked up for?" Matt asked, wrong choice of words again.

"I'm not, just a bit surprised is all. A bit pissed that you hadn't kept in touch with me… I can careless what you do, or who you see." Kain started to move around, so I took that as my cue to go up, Max gave me a small smile that I read as 'good luck'.

Upstairs they were in my room, Matt by the door and Kain now sitting on the bed.

"Hey uncle Ray." He smiled at me and I smiled back.

"She seems like a lovely girl Matt, I'm happy for you." If Matt noticed the growl from Kain's throat he didn't show it, he just nodded and left the room closing the door behind him. I turned to my son and gave him an apologetic look.

"Don't." He warned, crossing his arms over his chest. His crimson eyes were burning but they weren't slit in his anger, yet I could see he was fighting them back.

I sighed and started getting what I had come here for at the top of my closet, all the while Kain watched me. "He's not ever going to know, if you don't speak up." I told him from over my shoulder, pushing past the shoe boxes till I found the one I was searching for.

"There's nothing to say." I rolled my eyes at that, how stupid does he think I am?

"If you say so son." I smiled, bringing down the box I was searching for.

"What's that?" Kain asked as I turned around, holding the box in my hands trying to fight back the tears.

"Just something I want to give to your sister." I told him, clutching the box under my arm. "We should head back now, Gabe might be home and I don't want to think how Kai and the others are handling being alone there."

Kain nodded and stood, following me out the door and down the stairs. Max was still at the bar, while I could hear Matt and Brittany in his room. I chanced a glance at Kain beside me as he was putting on his shoes, his back was tense again and he was frowning hard.

Max gave me a look and I shook my head, he simply nodded in understanding and came over to me. He wrapped his arms around me, making sure to give me my goodbye hug and I returned it with my own one-armed hug.

"Keep me updated about what's going on over there." He said, smirking at me and I rolled my eyes.

"What help you are." I said mockingly and started to get my shoes on, Kain had already disappeared outside the door. "This is going to be fun." I sighed out, waving one last time at Max before I left.

The ride back to Gabe's place was uncomfortable, Kain just leaned against the door and stared out the window as the city rolled by us. I didn't know what to say to him, my heart hurt for him because I knew how he felt. It was never easy seeing the one you loved with someone else, but if he wasn't so stubborn like his father he and Matt might actually have been something.

I wouldn't mind it so much if Matt matured a bit more, I don't know if he just didn't see the signs or if he just truly didn't care about Kain that way. Since he's not my son, it's not my place to butt in his business. They've been close their entire lives, and even though they've had falling outs I knew this hurt wasn't going to go away anytime soon.

As I pulled the car into the driveway, Gabe's car wasn't there, and I sighed out thankful. Kain didn't say a thing to me as he got out, already heading inside the house. When I made it in Kai was coming down the stairs, he nodded to me and I nodded back.

"I'm just going to put this in the room really quick." I don't know why I bothered telling him that, but I did, and he just nodded.

I could feel his eyes on my back as I walked around the staircase to Gabe's room, making sure to put the box under the bed and stepped back out. Kai was sitting in the living room looking rather bored, so I came and sat on the other end away from him. I couldn't hear any of the other's in the house, and I started to get nervous a bit.

"Where's Kyra?"

"In her room."

"No, she's not." He rose a brow at me.

"I think I'd know where my own daughter is." He scorned a bit and I just smirked at him.

"She's not, no one is. I can't hear them. And she's _our_ daughter, in case you forgot."

"She was a second ago…" He looked worried now, but he didn't bother to get up.

"It's fine, Kain probably hauled her off to the lake. Stay away from him for a while, he's not doing to good right now." I warned, even though I didn't think he would openly try to start a conversation with the son he didn't care that existed, but I had to make sure.

"What's wrong with him?" I looked at him, mouth slightly hanging open. Since when did he start to care?

"Um… Just dealing with a lot of things right now, with him being in heat his moods are going to flip on and off right now. Matt came home with a girl and that's not going to help him any, but he won't dare say how he feels about Matt." I shook my head, why was I telling Kai these things? Sure, he was Kain's father, but it wasn't like he'd care if our son's heart was breaking.

He simply nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. "How'd it go at the restaurant?" Why do you care?!

"Not good, I had to transfer funds out of my personal account into the business. Again. You know I've never been that good with numbers, so I left it to Gabe to do but since he's always at work I have to deal with it, and I just have no clue how this keeps happening." I sighed out, leaning back against the couch.

His eyebrow rose again at me and he shifted a bit uncomfortably in his seat. "I could take a look at it." Both my eyebrows rose at his offer, but it didn't sound like a bad idea.

"Um… Sure, let me get the papers." Since there was nothing better for either of us to do I went and grabbed the papers from Gabe's room, coming and sitting down beside him and pulled the coffee table closer to us.

"The building is finished, has been for about a three years now. Trust me, that was a fiasco in of itself. Right now, it's the plumbing and electrical that's being put in, when it should have been done right after, but once again numbers kept getting misplaced and it's taken longer than I was expecting." I told him, and he nodded while picking up a stack of papers from the coffee table.

"The contractor's cheques keep bouncing, so without pay I can't have them work. Not that they would anyways, and I don't always have the extra in my personal account to keep funneling it back into the business account."

"Why didn't you get a loan?" He asked after scanning the paper in his hand, placing it back on the coffee table and shuffling through the others.

"Honestly, I didn't need to. That last cheque you sent before you ran off, I put it away, so it could accumulate. I used that to start this all up, I was told it was more than enough to get started, and for the first year it was."

He shook his head with a grunt, but I don't know which of my words he was grunting at. "How long have you been trying to do this?"

"Five years, almost six. First year was getting permits, finding a location, then making sure I hired the right people. Took a year to actually get stuff going, then all the set backs just building the damn thing took two years." I huffed out, resting against the couch as he scanned through the papers. "Find anything?" I asked him.

He leaned back with a paper in his hand and our shoulders brushed, but neither of us bothered to move. I felt a jolt of electricity run through me, but I didn't react to it. I could smell his cologne, it was the same kind I would always get for him because it smelled good. Gabe's cologne is to over powering, and even with my dulled sense of smell it makes me gag.

"Not yet, mind if I hold onto these, I can go over them with Tala and figure it out for you by tomorrow."

"Yeah, that's fine." I waved at him. "How have they been? Dimitri sure has grown." He snorted at me and shook his head a bit.

"They've been fine, they've helped me a lot after I left. Apparently, Kyra and Dimitri have this… Thing going on between them."

"I know." He looked at me with a raised brow, so I continued. "I can see it, are you telling me you never did?" I had to hold back a laugh when his brows creased. "I take that as a yes, c'mon you were the one with her all this time. I've only really seen her once and that was at dinner last night, right away I could tell." I couldn't hold back the chuckle as he just glared at me.

"Are you going to keep bringing that up? Look, I'm not going to apologize for doing what I did." He sneered at me.

"I'm not looking for one." I told him plainly, and his eyes narrowed harder. "I'm just glad you decided to stay, I'm not going to dwell in the past. She seems like you've taken great care of her, she seems happy and that's all I'd have ever wanted for her. You did good."

This time it was his mouth that hung open a bit, he was never one to talk much in our youth, but he always had a comeback and for once he was speechless.

"Thanks…" He finally breathed out after the silence that had found us, I offered him a smile and showed him my fang that stuck out. He recognized the look I was giving him and gave me his own smile, god it was beautiful.

"Wish I could say the same about Kain." I started, having to pull slightly away from him before I lost all control. "Don't get me wrong, I love the kid but he's such a handful at times. He's like you and me, more you than me at times and then he's more me than you. He's certainly kept me on my toes since he learned to walk, then after he found out he's part neko-jin it was to the ER with him almost on a monthly basis." He rolled his eyes but chuckled slightly.

"I don't expect Kyra to be jumping and bouncing around, but the longer she's around us her senses are going to pick up. She might get a bit testy too, since it'll all be new to her so if she snaps at you just know that's why." I told him, and he nodded like he understood. "I should probably get something ready for lunch." I said, pushing myself off the couch.

I was about under the archway for the kitchen, his gaze still on my back and I stopped when he shifted and stood. "Ray?"

"Yeah?" I turned around to look at him, this calm about us was nice and I was scared that he was going to break it.

"I'm sorry."


	14. Chapter 14

**Authors Note:**

 **So this might be a weird chapter, we kind of back track to see what happened after Ray and Kain left, while focusing on Kai's POV and then it comes back towards when Ray and Kain come back. So yes, the conversation Ray and Kai had is back, but from Kai's point of view.  
As always, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Kai's POV**

Ray and Kain's departure left me fuming from the conversation prior to it. Somehow, I'd found out from my son that my daughter was no longer a virgin, something that was brand new knowledge for me. As far as I knew of, Kyra had only dated one person and that hadn't lasted very long. She had dated Tristan, a guy I didn't like at all, for a little over three months and had ended up ending it, telling me it was because he was a brat and nothing else. Would she really have slept with a guy she'd barely been with?

I had to contain my anger for a few hours, knowing it was four in the morning and Kyra wouldn't be up till much later. Unlike me she was able to sleep anywhere if tired enough. She was far from a morning person, which made me decide to push confronting her until she woke up on her own.

It wasn't till after nine thirty when she finally came down, still looking groggy from sleep. She looked up and did a small wave at me, making a beeline for the coffee machine. I waited till she started drinking to say something to her.

"So, Kain told me something interesting this morning." I started as I sat at the breakfast bar.

"Oh god, what came out of that kid's mouth now?" She grumbled as she brought the coffee up to her lips again.

"You're not a virgin?" I said with my coffee cup in front of my mouth.

It was hard not to smirk when she started to choke a bit, looking at me with her eyes wide.

"So, it's true then?" I sighed, shaking my head.

"Yes, but I regret it." She groaned, putting her face in her hands.

"Who was it?" I asked, glaring a bit since I assumed who it was and it gave me more of a reason than I already had to kick his ass.

"Trust me, you don't want to know." She shook her head, trying to busy herself with making toast.

"I'm not letting you get away from this so easily. What's his name?" I asked calmly, making it a point to look her in the eyes when she turned to face me. For some reason this was something that always made her spill the truth.

"Fine! I lost my virginity to Tristan. Are you happy?" She grimaced.

Just as she said that, Bryan, Tala and Dimitri walked in, Dimitri's face looking discouraged, almost to the point of heart break.

"Really? You did that with him?" Dimitri spat, narrowing his eyes at Kyra.

Dammit. I didn't plan on this affecting them. I just wanted her to be honest with me.

"Dimitri, just listen to me." Kyra pleaded, trying to go up to him but he turned away, causing her face to fall.

"Forget it." He growled, walking back towards the stairs and stomping back up to his room.

Tala sighed, probably going to comfort his heartbroken son. Kyra stood with her head down, her long hair hiding whatever facial expressions she was making.

"Kyra…" I said softly, trying to go up to her before she started to step away.

"That's why I wasn't saying anything. I didn't tell anyone. I didn't plan to sleep with him, it just happened. I regretted it and broke up with him the next day because I didn't feel the same way about him as I did Dimitri. I didn't want him or anyone else to know since it didn't mean anything to me but I guess that's ruined now." She mumbled.

"It's not. This can be fixed." I tried to convince her.

"Dad, just save it." She shook her head, abandoning her breakfast to go back up to her room. It wasn't long till I heard a door slam.

I sighed, going back to my seat and running my hand through my bangs.

"Well, that went terribly. What was that even about anyways?" Bryan asked, a look of annoyance on his face. It was obvious he was a bit pissed at me for bringing attention to the one thing that could break his son's heart.

"It doesn't matter now. My daughter is pissed at me and your son is upset because I couldn't leave well enough alone." I shook my head.

"You have that right. I'm going to see if Tala needs some moral support. I haven't seen Dimitri that upset since Kyra started dating that guy last year." He sighed, turning to go upstairs, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

I decided to wait until noon to approach Kyra, knowing she needed some time to process and be alone before I tried to apologize. Although I wasn't happy about her having sex, I knew in this situation I was in the wrong. I knocked on her door, waiting to hear a response. She opened the door, her eyes a bit red. Had she been crying? I hadn't seen her cry since she was a child.

"I don't want to talk." She frowned, trying to shut the door before I stopped it.

"I know. I don't expect you to. I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pried. Especially out in the open like that."

She nodded. "Thanks. I still just want to be alone for a bit. I'll find you when I want to talk."

I nodded in response, letting her close the door to end the conversation. As that happened I heard another close of a door, looking down the hall to see Tala coming out of their room with a worried expression on his face. When he noticed me, his face went from worried to downright pissed. It wasn't till then I remembered how scary Tala actually was.

"You, me, outside. Now." He growled.

I lead him to the second-floor balcony outside, closing the door before addressing him. "Obviously you're angry."

"Damn right I'm angry. Did you really have to question her about that out in the open? My son is heartbroken now." Tala yelled, his blue eyes looking more icy than usual. As he got older not many things could anger Tala, but Dimitri was one of the few things that invoked a lot of emotion.

"I know, I didn't think that through well enough. But Kyra has the same feelings for Dimitri as he does for her. He knows that, right?" I insisted.

"I don't think so and this just gave him another reason to think Kyra isn't interested in him. Bryan said Kyra was trying to hide this from him and you should've just left well enough alone. Why did you need to know about this anyways? She's seventeen Kai. You don't need to be knowing every detail of her life anymore." He argued, his voice getting louder as he spoke.

"Because I don't want her making the same mistakes I made!" I yelled back.

Tala stopped, his eyes softening as he looked at me, finally getting where my insistence was coming from.

"I don't regret it. She's the most important thing to me and what Ray and I had back then was great, but we were too young. I was too young to take on what I did back then. I don't want that for her. I want her to be able to have a normal teenage life, go to college and really live before having a kid. I want better for her than what Ray and I got." I sighed, sitting on the patio chair before lighting a cigarette.

He sat down beside me, holding his hand out towards me for a cigarette.

"I thought you were trying to quit." I smirked.

"I just comforted my heart broken teenage son for almost two hours. Hand me the cancer stick." He snapped, happily taking the cigarette and lighter as I handed it over.

The two of us smoked in silence for a bit before I remembered another piece of information Kain decided to inform me of this morning.

"So apparently the real reason we're here is because Kain wants Ray and I to get back together." I mentioned, watching Tala's brow go up at that.

"Really? Do you think Kyra is in on this too?" He asked.

I shook my head. "I don't really think so but I could be wrong. By how he worded it, he wants Ray and Gabe to break up and Kyra had told him it seems like I have feelings still."

"Well…do you?" Tala questioned, looking over to see me give him a 'no shit' look, making him chuckle softly. "I thought so. Crazy he's trying to plan that though. Like what kind of kid makes plans this elaborate to try and break up his dad's relationship just to get him with someone else?"

"They're engaged actually." I scoffed.

"Even worse! Honestly, I'm starting to question the sanity of your son." Tala shook his head.

"Hey, watch it." I barked, surprised by my response. I barely knew my son but for some reason I felt the need to defend him.

Tala looked a bit taken back, gaining his composure before deciding to ask. "So, what do you think of the idea? You and Ray getting back together. Is that something you'd want?"

I shrugged, finishing my cigarette and putting out the rest in the ash tray. "I honestly have no idea. Things would be a lot different. We're both adults with our own separate lives. He has a life here while things are going well for me in Russia. We also have our kids to think about. Sure, Kain may be excited about the two of us together, but I don't even know if Kyra likes Ray, let alone wants us to be together. I am not a homewrecker by any means but if he ever did want to try things again with me, there would be a lot of variables to consider to make sure we don't end up how we were fourteen years ago."

Tala nodded, finishing his cigarette as well. "Do you want my opinion?"

"Sure." I didn't have many people in my life, but Tala's opinion was one of the one's I thought the most highly of. He had always been like an older brother to me and although him and Bryan found their ways to piss me off, I respected his opinion more than most peoples.

"Other than with Kyra, I've never seen you happier than when you were with Ray. I'm not saying you should break him and his fiancé up, but I think it would be a good idea to let him back into your life. Become friends again, forget all the bad blood between the two of you and just see what happens. You're already going to have to be in each other's lives since your kids know the whole situation now, so why not build a friendship again? Maybe something could come out of that." He proposed, standing up to signify the conversation was going to come to a close.

I nodded in agreement. "You never fail to impress me with your advice, Ivanov."

"I'm pretty great at it, right? That is why I'm your Human Resources manager." He grinned. "Well, I better go check on Dimitri. Maybe convince him to finally tell Kyra he's interested and we could stop running into this problem."

I smirked, standing up to go inside as well. "At this rate we won't be in-laws till we're dead."

Tala scoffed, shaking his head. "Trust me, I won't leave this world till that boy admits his feelings. I swear he's Bryan's kid when it comes to this."

With my lack of sleep, I had decided to go grab more coffee before finding something else to keep me occupied until Kyra was ready to talk again. I started to go down the stairs, noticing Ray coming in the house holding a small box. I was surprised to see him alone and not with Kain in tow since he had accompanied him to the restaurant visit. I gave him a nod, getting one back in response.

"I'm just going to put this in the room real quick." He said, to which I responded with another nod.

I made my way down the rest of the stairs, pouring another cup of coffee before taking a seat at the couch. I wasn't used to having this much free time, leading me to feel very bored for the first time in a while. Ray came back around, looking confused when he came into the room.

"Where's Kyra?" He asked.

"In her room."

"No, she's not." He stated, causing me to raise my brow.

"I think I'd know where my own daughter is." I scoffed, causing him to smirk.

"She's not, no one is. I can't hear them. And she's _our_ daughter, in case you forgot."

"She was a second ago…" Now I was worried. Last I knew she was held up in her room upset.

"It's fine, Kain probably hauled her off to the lake. Stay away from him for a while, he's not doing to good right now." He warned.

"What's wrong with him?" I asked, causing him to look at me as if I had two heads.

"Um… Just dealing with a lot of things right now, with him being in heat his moods are going to flip on and off right now. Matt came home with a girl and that's not going to help him any, but he won't dare say how he feels about Matt." He shook his head. Looks like both of our kids were having trouble expressing their feelings to the people they wanted to be with.

I nodded, crossing my arms over my chest. "How'd it go at the restaurant?"

"Not good, I had to transfer funds out of my personal account into the business. Again. You know I've never been that good with numbers, so I left it to Gabe to do but since he's always at work I have to deal with it, and I just have no clue how this keeps happening." He sighed, showing obvious frustration on his face.

I rose my eyebrows. That couldn't have been cheap for him to have to do. Maybe I could use this as an opportunity to start building the friendship that Tala suggested. "I could take a look at it."

Both of his eyebrows raised but he looked like he was considering the idea. "Um… Sure, let me get the papers." He left for a minute, coming back with a stack of papers from Gabriel's room that sat across from the couch in the living room.

"The building is finished, has been for about a three years now. Trust me, that was a fiasco in of itself. Right now, it's the plumbing and electrical that's being put in, when it should have been done right after, but once again numbers kept getting misplaced and it's taken longer than I was expecting." He explained as I nodded along, sifting through the papers he had provided.

"The contractor's cheques keep bouncing, so without pay I can't have them work. Not that they would anyways, and I don't always have the extra in my personal account to keep funneling it back into the business account."

"Why didn't you get a loan?" I asked after analyzing what he had given me.

"Honestly, I didn't need to. That last cheque you sent before you ran off, I put it away, so it could accumulate. I used that to start this all up, I was told it was more than enough to get started, and for the first year it was."

I had to admit, I was impressed with him for doing that. I knew he had always wanted to make a job out of his passion for cooking, but I couldn't help but feel a bit of pride that he had actually gone to the lengths to try and make his dream a reality. I shook my head, making a small grunt. I had given him quite a large sum of money before leaving. I didn't remember how much, but I knew it was a lot and should've lasted him a good amount of time.

"How long have you been trying to do this?"

"Five years, almost six. First year was getting permits, finding a location, then making sure I hired the right people. Took a year to actually get stuff going, then all the setbacks just building the damn thing took two years." He sighed, leaning into the couch before speaking to me again. "Find anything?"

I leaned back, still looking at one of the papers as our shoulders brushed. For the first time since leaving Ray I felt a spark rush through me. I didn't bother to move, but it was becoming increasingly hard to ignore the scent of Ray's eucalyptus shampoo, something he'd used when we were still together.

"Not yet, mind if I hold onto these, I can go over them with Tala and figure it out for you by tomorrow."

"Yeah, that's fine." He waved it off. "How have they been? Dimitri sure has grown." I snorted, shaking my head after all that had happened this afternoon.

"They've been fine, they've helped me a lot after I left. Apparently, Kyra and Dimitri have this… Thing going on between them."

"I know." I looked at him with a raised brow, Ray just continued on. "I can see it, are you telling me you never did?" I frowned, narrowing my eyes at him. "I take that as a yes, c'mon you were the one with her all this time. I've only really seen her once and that was at dinner last night, right away I could tell."

Seriously? Did he really have to keep bringing up not seeing Kyra? All I could do was glare as a response. Maybe this friendship idea was too good to be true.

"Are you going to keep bringing that up? Look, I'm not going to apologize for doing what I did." I growled.

"I'm not looking for one." He stated, causing me to narrow my eyes more at him. "I'm just glad you decided to stay, I'm not going to dwell in the past. She seems like you've taken great care of her, she seems happy and that's all I'd have ever wanted for her. You did good."

My mouth hung open a bit. Wait, what? Was he actually complimenting my parenting? I'd never really known if I was doing the best that I could for Kyra. I tried to be as available as I could be for her but I always felt that I was lacking in some areas. Sure, I could provide with her and give her life experiences, but I was never great when it came to comforting her or doing things like giving her 'the talk'. They were things I'd always thought Ray would've been better at if given the opportunity to do them. I'd spent the past fourteen years questioning my decision on keeping her away from Ray, but he had just confirmed one of my biggest anxieties. He thought I did right by her.

"Thanks…" I murmured, him responding by smiling with his fang sticking out. God, I had missed that smile. The smile told me I was doing the right thing, and I gave him one of my rare, genuine smiles.

"Wish I could say the same about Kain." He said, moving away from me a bit. "Don't get me wrong, I love the kid but he's such a handful at times. He's like you and me, more you than me at times and then he's more me than you. He's certainly kept me on my toes since he learned to walk, then after he found out he's part neko-jin it was to the ER with him almost on a monthly basis." I rolled my eyes, letting out a laugh.

"I don't expect Kyra to be jumping and bouncing around, but the longer she's around us her senses are going to pick up. She might get a bit testy too, since it'll all be new to her so if she snaps at you just know that's why." He told me, and I nodded. "I should probably get something ready for lunch." He said, pushing off the couch.

He was about to walk through the archway leading to the kitchen before I finally got the courage to speak up and say the thing I should've said to him when I first saw him. "Ray?"

"Yeah?" He turned around to look at me as if waiting for the shoe to drop.

"I'm sorry." Although I didn't regret any of the memories Kyra and I had made, anything that I had done to give her the life I thought she deserved, I regretted keeping her away from Ray for this long.

I shouldn't have assumed that he would take her away. He just wanted a chance to see her grow up, as had I. Who knows what could've happened if I wouldn't have run away.

Ray smiled as if knowing what I was apologizing for. "Apology accepted." He said before turning to walk into the kitchen yet again.

It seemed Tala had finished comforting Dimitri when I went to his and Bryan's room, as Ray went into the kitchen, to ask him for help with Ray's paperwork. It seemed Bryan had gone to take advantage of Gabe's basement gym, leaving Tala bored out of his mind in their room. He'd practically jumped me in excitement when I'd asked for his help.

The two of us sat down at the desk in my/Kain's room, him putting on his glasses to be able to read what I had laid down in front of him.

"So, what is it that we're looking for?" He questioned.

"Ray said that cheques keep bouncing when attempting to pay the contractors even though he has seen the money there previously. It's causing him to have to transfer money from his personal account into his business one, obviously something that isn't preferred. It's happened multiple times, which either means Ray is worse with numbers than I thought, or something is going on to cause that." I explained.

The two of us scanned through the papers for a while, the room silent before Tala made a curious noise.

"Hmm…did you notice this?" He asked, pointing to a number on one of the pages.

"No, what?" I asked.

"Well, in these past couple years I guess Ray has gone through multiple contractors due to the numbers bouncing so the account numbers for each should be different, right?" He pointed out.

I nodded. "Yeah. What is it you're getting at?"

"Well, if you compare the one he's currently using and the one from last year, the account numbers are the same. That wouldn't be the case unless it was the same company but when you look at the names, it looks like it's supposed to be two different companies. Why would two different contracting companies have the same exact account number?" He pondered.

"Unless someone was trying to scam Ray." I said quietly with a frown.

"Not was, is. Someone is obviously doing their best to scam Ray out of every dollar he has." Tala grimaced.


	15. Chapter 15

**Kain's POV**

My brain was a bit fuzzy the entire way home, if dad thought his attempts of trying to get me to talk were going to work he was wrong. Not only did it feel like my heart had been stabbed repeatedly, I felt exhausted and I hadn't even done anything remotely taxing. I don't know why I was feeling this way because I didn't love Matt, we never said we did at least. Though, I always did feel something when we were together, I wanted to be with him and that's why we had continued to sleep with each other even if we weren't dating. It was why I was always protective of him, wanting to be seen by him or acknowledged by him. For him to be beside me and I by him, and to be tossed aside these past five months hurt.

I couldn't sleep on the way back to Gabe's though, when we got there I just went right inside to find Kyra. I had passed Tala on the stairs and we didn't even bother to look at one another, I could hear Kai out on the back balcony and Kyra was in her room.

"What?" She barked out from behind her closed door after I had knocked on it a few times, was she ignoring me?

"Can we talk?" I asked, maybe she didn't know it was me.

Her door opened, and she eyed me through the crack she made, she was scowling rather hard. "I'd rather be left alone." She growled out.

Okay, so she was ignoring me, but I'm getting pretty tired of being ignored now. "Too bad." I said cheerfully and pushed her door open, grabbing her wrist and hauling her back down the stairs.

Of course, she was fighting me, but I am a bit stronger and beyond the other emotions I'm pissed off right now. When we get into the kitchen, having opted to take the side door to leave the house, Dimitri freezes after seeing us and then quickly looks away. So, I'm obviously missing something here but oh well.

"You're coming too, lets go." I ordered him, he just scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. "That wasn't a request!" I shouted, damn my mood swings.

Now I have one set of crimson eyes glaring daggers at me, and a pair of lavender ones. He doesn't say anything, neither does Kyra as he stands, and I can feel Kyra's arm starting to shake a bit under my hold. What the hell did I miss?! I don't ask them, not yet as I can hear Kai and dad both coming inside at roughly the same time. Us teenagers slip out the side door of the kitchen and I haul them out towards the lake, at least the lake looks like he wants to see me.

"Okay, we're here you can let go now!" Kyra throws her arm down, breaking the hold I had on it. "What the hell is your problem?!"

"Right now? There's a lot, but we'd be out here all day if I decided to tell you. So, what happened between you two?" I ask, glancing at both older teens.

Dimitri is standing farther away from Kyra than I have ever seen him stand, almost at the edge of the lake while Kyra stands in front me. She looks from me to Dimitri and back to me, her face softens but she doesn't look ready to talk yet. Okay, well I guess I'll talk then.

"You should take the time to get to know dad, and I mean it." I told her, crossing my arms over my chest.

"I was going to?" She said, sarcasm dripping from her tone.

I held a hand up to her, giving her a slight glare. "No, I mean it. _Really_ try, I know it's going to be uncomfortable right now but seriously… He… He was hurting, a lot, when you were gone. It would mean the world to him if you talked to him, even if it's weird." I told her, I didn't know if I should say exactly how much dad had been hurting when she was gone, but she needed to know he had missed her.

"Alright, I'll try." She huffed out and I gave her a small smile.

"Good, now what's going on between you and Dimitri?" I looked between the two of them again, they avoided eye contact again. "Do I have to beat it out of one of you?" Dimitri tensed, and Kyra scoffed.

"If you hadn't opened your big mouth this morning, everything would have been fine!" Kyra finally snaps, what did I do now?

"What're you talking about, I've been gone since four."

She growled a bit in her throat, her anger evident on her face and her pupils quivered. "You know exactly what you did this morning!" She screamed out, and I took a step back.

"Not really, no…. Ohhhhhhhhhh… SHIT!" It finally hit me, I looked between the two of them quickly. I wasn't expecting Dimitri to find out about her, I honestly wasn't thinking when I had slipped her secret out to our fathers.

"Look, that was an accident. I had both of them jumping down each other's throats, and it was uncomfortable watching them trying to one-up the other. It was an honest mistake sis, I didn't mean to. Nor, would I have thought Dimitri would find out." I tell her rather quickly, but that doesn't seem to have cooled her down but at least Dimitri looks slightly more interested in our conversation now.

"That's a stupid fucking excuse! I told you that because I trusted you!" If it wasn't for her screaming at me I would have smiled at that thought, I had her trust after just having known her for six months and I had already disappointed her.

"I'm sorry sis, really I am. Please, it wasn't my intention to break that trust. I thought Kai knew, you said you two told each other everything." I try to smooth her out, all the while I just feel like a complete loser who can't do anything right.

She seemed to think it over, her pupils stopped quivering and she held onto her head as if she had a headache. "No, not that… Anything but that." She mumbled out a bit, shaking her head.

"I'm sorry Kyra." I reached out to touch her, but she pulled away from me before I could even touch her.

"Just don't… I want to be alone right now." She turned on her heel, her hair following behind her as she walked back around the lake.

Dimitri hesitated for a minute, watching her go and his eyes softened. Dammit again, I was supposed to be getting these two together as well and I just fucked that up. Why did I have to be so accident prone in these things, lucky for me I'm also stubborn and won't stop till I get a satisfactory result.

"I'm not done talking to you." I told him as his feet started to move, he turned back around and glared again with his lavender eyes.

"I don't want to listen to what you have to say."

"I don't give a shit if you want to, you're going to." I said and bridged the space between us, grabbing his wrist to stop him from moving and his glare just hardened. I gave him my own, having to slightly look up to meet his gaze.

"You're going to listen to me! I'm tired of watching you two dance around each other, either pick up your balls from wherever you left them and do something or back off." I growled out, if only I could take my own advice.

"You don't even know what you're talking about, I've known Kyra our whole lives. You don't know anything about her, so _you_ should back off!" He jerked his arm from my grasp, but he didn't make a move to leave.

"True, not like I haven't realized that, but thanks for the reminder. Listen to me though, I don't care if she's my older sister and can stick up for herself, but she is still _my_ sister. She likes you, you like her, so get it over with. So, what if she slept with someone else? It's not the end of the world, she regrets it and it doesn't make her any less of a person." I warned him, I didn't know him that well enough, but I don't think he'd think like that of all things.

"I never said she was less of a person because of it! Do you think I'm that shallow?"

"Not really no, but you acting like this probably doesn't help her think differently than that. If you've known her all your lives, then you should know how much it hurts her when you're not near her!" Damn, why does it sound like I'm giving a pep talk for the _both_ of us?

He went quiet again, arms over his chest so I mimicked his stance to show him I wasn't backing down. He should have realized by now Kyra wasn't the only one to be this stubborn, we shared the same fathers after all.

"Just make this right again, okay? I'm sorry you found out, I'm sorry for breaking her trust and I'll make it up to her eventually. Right now, you need to make this right between the two of you." I told him sternly and he nodded.

"You sound like you know how I feel." He inquired a bit, and I shook my head a bit.

"This isn't about me." I told him, my shoulders slightly laxing in the tension I felt. "But yeah, let's just say that I don't have the balls either to make things right." I mumbled, but it was loud enough that he heard. "We're pretty stupid if you think about it." He nodded with a slight chuckle, the tension between us leaving.

He shifted a bit, looking a bit uncomfortable. "Do… Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." I didn't even have to think about my answer, he just nodded. "We should probably go back inside though." I told him, my stomach was starting to tighten because I hadn't had anything to eat yet and I knew dad would be making lunch soon.

We both started back around the lake for the house, it was a nice calm and I could say that Dimitri was an alright guy after all. I just hoped that now he and Kyra could do something about their dancing around each other, trying to make sure everyone around me is happy is getting tiring though, while I'm still feeling hurt.

I can tell Kai doesn't want to be around me all that much, nor does it help he never thought to try and reach out to me all these years. Dad has Gabe, and even though he's never put Gabe before me, I still don't like the idea of him being with him because it feels like I'm not good enough for him either. Not to mention dad changed once he got with Gabe, he cut his hair for him and does all these things that I know he doesn't want to do. Kyra is stuck by me, but I'm pretty sure if she had the choice she'd abandon me just like the others. Matt has made it pretty clear to me that he wants nothing to do with me, but I can understand why. Am I really that broken, that no one wants me?

"Kain?" He stops and looks at me, I didn't even realize I had tears in my eyes.

"Don't worry about it." I wipe the few stray tears that roll down my cheeks with the back of my sleeve.

We come in through the side door of the kitchen, already I can smell the food dad prepared and normally that would have lifted my mood, but it doesn't. Kyra is sitting at the table with our fathers, they seem calm enough even though no one is talking. Tala and Bryan are there as well, and Dimitri goes over and sits with them at the end of the table where he sat last night. The only person we're missing is Gabe, but I can careless about that.

"Kain? What's wrong?" Dad asks me, looking up from his plate. He's the only one that seems to be the happiest around us, and I feel good that he's not too stressed about what I've put him through.

I wave him off, not bothering to sit down with them all because I just want to sleep now even if I am starving. "Nothing, I'm going to go take a nap."

I notice Kai shift his glance from me to dad, as if he's fighting with himself to say something. Don't stress yourself too much old man, you can just say you don't care without making it obvious.

"You should eat something at least, you haven't had anything all day." Dad protests. Why do you suddenly care? The daughter you've never met should be enough for you now, you don't need me.

"It's alright." I start away towards the archway, his chair pushes back and he comes up and places a hand on my shoulder and I can't help but tense under it.

"Talk to me Kain, please?"

"Why do you care?" I mumble out, and his hand leaves my shoulder as if I burnt him. I can feel tears are wanting to escape again, but I don't want them to, so I bite my lip hard.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He sounds hurt. Why do I hurt the people I care about?

"I just don't want to talk right now, these damn… Fucking emotions don't help, I feel like a girl with them all in my head." I shake it hard, I know the others are watching and that's not helping.

"It'll be alright, you and Matt will work it out." But it's not just about Matt!

I spin around to meet his gaze; the tears are flowing freely now, and I don't care if I look weak and pathetic. "It's not just Matt! It's you and Kai, and everything else! You didn't tell me you were engaged, you turned your phone off on me when I needed you! Matt and I aren't ever going to work out, not after what I did to him!"

He goes quiet, he doesn't really know why we had that nasty break up before we left for camp. No one does, just us. Dimitri shifts a bit, and now I can feel Kai staring at us again since I brought him up.

"That was my fault." Dimitri starts up, but it's not his fault. "I didn't mean to break his blade in our match." He continues and Tala sighs beside his son, I shake my head.

"That's not it…" I mumble again, hanging my head. "I cheated on him."

"What?" Dad asks, and he touches my shoulder again. "Why would you do that?"

I shake my head, remembering what had happened. "Its not that… It is, but it isn't…. Another guy came onto me, but I didn't push him off." I feel all kinds of emotions swell in my gut and it makes me sick to think about it again, that hurt I had seen in Matt's eyes when he came in and saw us in the classroom.

"I see…" He normally has great advice to give, but I guess he's come to realize I'm so broken that his words aren't going to be worth it anymore.

"I'm going to bed." I sigh out, once again I feel completely drained even if I haven't done anything remotely strenuous.

This time nobody stops me from leaving them, on first instinct I turn left to head to my room, but I remember it's Kai's room now and go to the other. I flop down, hard, on the bed and bury my head into the pillow. The voices are muffled by the pillow and soon I'm off in an uncomfortable sleep, I'm so tired though my body just gives out on me and I no longer hear anything.

* * *

 **Kyra's POV**

After Kain's outburst, lunch was pretty quiet. I was still pissed off and upset, Dimitri kept looking at me with hurt eyes, Ray was quiet and looked confused and my Dad and Bryan had their usual stoic looks on their faces as they ate. The only 'okay' one at the table seemed to be Tala who was making his best attempts to lighten the mood.

"Teenagers, am I right, Ray? I've definitely had some dramatic moments with this one." He started off. Uncle Tala, please just stay quiet.

"Papa…" Dimitri groaned, giving Tala a look of disgust. Sometimes I felt bad for Dimitri. His parents were so opposite. He either had Bryan, who wasn't that emotional but showed in his own way that he cared, or he had Tala who was overbearing but gave great advice and nurtured both of us when Dad wasn't around. Growing up I was always kind of jealous that he had two parents since I only had Dad, but now I was a bit thankful.

"Take today for example! Comforting him through moody periods, dealing with heartbreak other people have caused, getting yelled at even though you're trying to help. The life of a parent is a thankless one!" Tala droned on. Thanks for the jab Uncle Tala. Tell me how you really feel.

"Papa, stop talking. Please." Dimitri bit out, looking at me with sympathetic eyes.

"Wait, what happened today?" Ray asked, starting to notice the tension between all of us.

"Well-" Tala started before I stood up, having enough of the conversation.

"Kyra, sit back down." Dad said calmly.

" _No. I've had enough of this. First I get outed about something I didn't even want anyone to know and now some people are trying to shame me for it."_ I growled, deciding to switch into Russian to keep Ray out of it. I glared at Tala and Dimitri, only to have Dimitri give me a heartbroken look yet again.

"Kyra, please sit down and speak English. I know you're upset but this isn't the place for this." Dad sighed, narrowing his eyes at me.

" _I'm upset, frustrated and have a headache. I am going upstairs."_ I stated, turning to start walking up the stairs. As I walked away I could hear Kai reassuring Ray.

"I'm sorry, she's not normally like that. She's not feeling well and is just going through some things right now."

"It's okay…seems like both of the kids need their space right now." Ray murmured. I felt bad that I'd left him out of the conversation but I had enough judgement as it was. I didn't need the father I just met adding onto that.

I fell back into my bed, pulling the covers up close to my face. I'd always regretted sleeping with Tristan but today I just felt dirty and used. I had slept with him willingly but I never had the purest of intentions with him. The reason we had gotten together in the first place was so superficial. He had wanted another rich girl to have on his arm and out of most of the girls in our school, I was one of the most unattainable. I never really had shown any interest in dating and had rejected most people who had tried to ask me out since I'd always fancied Dimitri. I'd found him attractive since we'd both went into high school but he'd never shown any interest in me so I'd never brought it up. At least, he didn't show an interest until Tristan came in the picture.

I'd said yes to Tristan's advances since I'd gotten to the point where I just assumed Dimitri wasn't interested and I'd have to move on. Tristan was rather good looking, came from a reputable family and hung around with similar crowds as Dimitri, Sven and I did, so I assumed he would be a safe person to start to get involved with. He wasn't the smartest guy ever, but he was nice enough and got along well with Sven. It wasn't till I told Dimitri we were together that I realized his true feelings. He started giving me the cold shoulder after he found out, making sure he was never in the same room when Tristan and I were together, avoided parties that he knew the two of us would be at. He even went as far as to avoid family dinners when he knew I was bringing Tristan along.

I felt hurt and betrayed by my best friend. All I really had during that time was Tristan and it seemed like the next step in furthering the relationship was to have sex. His parents were away one night, leaving us free to do whatever we wished and it just ended up happening when we were watching a movie. It was awkward, uncomfortable and just left me with a bad feeling afterwards when I went home. It didn't feel like how I thought it would. I didn't feel like he was the right person to had done it with. My first time shouldn't have been with him, it should've been with Dimitri.

The following day I'd broken up with Tristan before class, meaning that by lunch our break up was the talk of the school. Dimitri had approached me during that time, starting off with casual conversation but ending the lunch period with a sincere apology and just like that we were back to how we were. I never wanted him to find out, especially after how he'd reacted to me dating someone else. I'd thought maybe that would've been incentive enough to have finally asked me out but it had been over eight months and he'd still said nothing to me about his feelings.

I ended up dozing off, only to be woken up in the late afternoon by a knock at my door. I sat up groggily, doing my best to compose myself as I went to answer. I opened the door to reveal Dimitri looking a bit shy as he stood there.

"Can we talk?" He asked softly.

I nodded, moving to the side to allow him to come in. He took a seat on my bed, letting out a sigh and looking as if he was trying to think of what to say.

"So, did you just come in here to sigh at me or are we actually going to have a conversation?" I scowled.

"I'm sorry for how I reacted. I shouldn't have acted that way towards you." He mumbled out.

I frowned, taking a seat beside him on the bed. "You made me feel like trash. I already regretted sleeping with him. I didn't need you acting like that to me."

He nodded, his lavender eyes showing his regret. "I didn't want to make you feel like that. I wasn't reacting like that just because you've had sex."

"Why did you react like that then?" I asked with a raised brow.

He looked flustered, blushing as he tried to make up an excuse. "Uhh cause he isn't right for you."

I smirked slightly. Watching him get worked up had always been so entertaining for me. "Oh really? Who is right for me then?"

He appeared to be trying to calm himself down, looking me in the eyes as he spoke. "Someone who isn't just dating you because you're Kai Hiwatari's daughter or because you're attractive. You should be with someone who actually knows you personally and likes every part of you. Good or bad."

"Hmm…well hopefully I find someone like that someday." I'd hoped he was going to say himself but I guess what he said was a close second option.

He smiled and gave me a nod. "I think you'll find that." He then looked down at his phone and frowned. "Looks like Papa is looking to apologize. I gave him crap for what he started at lunch after you left if that makes things any better. It got really awkward after you left. Ray looked worse than he did after Kain went upstairs and Uncle Kai just looked uncomfortable."

I frowned in response, feeling bad about how everything went down. Kain wanted me to start trying to bond with Ray when what I did at lunch just excluded him more. I had to do something to redeem myself.

"You go make up with Uncle Tala, I'm going to try to turn things around with Ray."

I ended up finding Ray close to where I'd left him last, in the kitchen. He was alone and appeared to be starting to cook dinner for everyone. Well, here goes nothing.

"Need some help?" I asked, approaching gingerly.

He turned and gave me a bright smile, one I'd so far seen aimed at everyone but me. "Of course! You like to cook?"

I came to stand at the counter near him, looking to see he was making some sort of Asian stir fry. "I dabble in cooking. I'm not great like Kain says you are but I'm good enough that I got Dad to stop trying to cook and just let me do it."

"He's still that bad at it?" Ray chuckled, shaking his head as he cut up some vegetables.

"The one weekend the cooks were away he gave me food poisoning when I was nine if that's any indicator."

"Well you have no worries of that happening here. I'd tried to teach your father a thing or two way back when, but I guess it didn't stick." He smiled.

I nodded. "Something Kain has also told me. What can I do to help?"

Ray shuffled across the kitchen, handing me a package of noodles. "I already have a pot on the stove if you'd like to cook the pasta?"

"Sure." I went over and grabbed the pot, filling it with water from the tap before going back to the stove to start boiling it.

The two of us worked in silence for a bit before Ray decided to start up our first real conversation.

"So, you're in your last year of high school? That must be exciting." He commented.

I nodded, continuing to keep my focus on the pasta. "Yeah I guess. It would be a bit better if I could figure out my plans for college."

"Having a hard time picking a major?" He questioned, coming to stand beside me at the stove to start making the stir-fry in a pan.

"No, that's actually the easy part. Planning to major in business marketing while doing a minor in economics." I said casually, causing him to look at me with wide eyes.

"Wow. You must have inherited your father's intelligence then. I imagine you have an interest in that to want to study it then?"

"Well, it's more what I want to do afterwards that's driving me to study that. I want to lead the marketing team for Hiwatari Enterprises. I've been going with Dad to work since I was small and since going I've noticed that although he is very good at making business deals and keeping clients happy, they haven't signed any new clients in years. Dad is great with numbers and managing but he is terrible when it comes to marketing products. I want to help him make Hiwatari Enterprises more appealing to new clientele while also growing the business. Plus, they need some more strong female bosses in that company and I want to be one of the first." I explained.

He laughed a bit at my last line, giving me a nod that he understood. "It sounds like you're really passionate about it. What's there to figure out then if you're settled on a major?"

"Dad. Dimitri and our friend Sven are looking at colleges further away from home and I'd like to be able to go to college with them. But I'm worried about moving out and leaving Dad. It's just been the two of us for so many years, it'll be weird for us to adjust to." I sighed. I hadn't even expressed this worry to Dad yet. I didn't want him to feel like he was holding me back but I also didn't want him hurting if I decided to go far for school.

Ray nodded, looking a bit sad when I'd mentioned it just being Dad and I for years. "Have you told Kai about this?"

I shook my head with a frown. "I didn't want him to feel like he's swaying my decision."

Ray looked deep in thought as he started to dump vegetables into the stir-fry sauce he had made. "If your father is still like he was when we were young, I know he would want you to choose whatever makes you happy. He loves you and would want you to follow whatever path you feel is best. Yes, he'd be sad to have you be far away, but I think seeing you be happy would outweigh the sadness of you moving out." I looked over, raising my eyebrow.

"You think?"

Ray nodded as he stirred his concoction. "Yes, but I'd talk to him if I were you. I found the only way to figure out how he was really feeling was to address it head on."

"Yeah, he's still that way. Doesn't express much unless prompted." I smirked.

Ray chuckled with a shake of his head. "Nice to know somethings haven't changed."

It got quiet after that and we cooked side by side for a bit, I could hear a slight hum coming from Ray and I couldn't help but smirk to myself. This wasn't so bad, Kain was right, he did give good advice. Even though it was great advice, it wasn't going to make talking to my dad any easier though. I shifted, in order to get Ray's attention once more when he spoke before I could.

"Could you get Kain for me?" He asked with a frown, his voice almost a whisper. I could see he was still hurt by what had happened earlier today.

"I'd rather not." I didn't mean to sound off putting, but it was Kain's fault in the end about what I had to go through today.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll do it then. The plates are in that cupboard over there, if you could get them for me." He said as he left me standing there.

"Wait, I'll get him. I need to talk to him anyways." I called out, stopping him when he was just under the archway of the kitchen.

"Thank you." He smiled to me, and one of his fangs poked out of his upper lip, the same way I'd seen Kain smile.

I nodded to him, setting down the spoon I had been using to stir the noodles with and headed for the stairs.

I approached his room, taking a deep breath before knocking on the door. Here's hoping this wouldn't blow up in my face.

He opened the door, giving a look of confusion as to question what I was doing there.

"Ray wanted me to come get you. Plus, I just wanted to let you know I forgive you. Still a bit annoyed, but you're just lucky Dimitri forgave me. Dealing with Dad is a whole other mess, but I feel like you've gone through enough today to at least catch one break." I explained, not looking to meet his eyes.

"Glad to know Dimitri came to you in the end, I wasn't sure if he would actually listen to me."

I shrugged. "He's usually very reasonable. Not much sets him off other than blading or me. But when either is threatened he'll go back to reasonable." He smirked, though it still looked slightly pained while he looked completely drained even though he had been sleeping since this afternoon.

"That's a relief. I don't think I can stomach anything tonight. I'll settle things with dad later."

I frowned, giving a look of sympathy. "You sure? He looks pretty hurt about everything. I think he just wants the two of you to be on good terms."

He nodded a bit. "Yeah, he should understand. If not, he can hear us right now anyways, I'm just really tired still."

"Alright. Well, I'm not mad anymore so if you want someone to talk to feel free to knock. I think Dimitri and Tala are going to be in a heart to heart for a while and I don't actually know where Dad is, so I was just going to go read."

His smirk turned into a full-fledged smile. "Thanks sis, I'm still sorry. I didn't mean to. Old man's outback."

"Next time, just ask before you spill my secrets? A simple 'Does Kai know about this?' Would suffice." I huffed, waving off his apology.

"I'll log that away, thanks again sis. I'll see you in the morning, and hey. Thanks for helping dad with dinner."

I gave him a soft smile and a nod. "Was a bit less awkward than I thought it would be. You were right, the advice was good. Might try and put it into action now with Dad so wish me luck on that."

He pat me on my back, as he pushed me away from his door. "Good luck!" He cheered before closing the door behind me.

I rolled my eyes, still unable to process how Kain and I were actually related. The two of us were so different but somehow it worked. I turned around, making my way down the stairs and going outside to try and talk things through with Dad. Not only did I have to talk about college, but I still had to address the events of the morning, something I was dreading having to bring up.

I lit a cigarette right as I went out, trying to take the edge off of this conversation as I approached Dad, who was standing in front of the pool with a lit cigarette in his hand.

"Don't you think it's a bit cold for a swim?" I asked as I approached.

He looked over at me, giving me his famous smirk. "Seems you're feeling better."

I nodded, taking a drag from my cigarette. "Sorry for this afternoon. Everything with Dimitri just escalated the situation."

"I know. I'm sorry I addressed it so publicly. But it is something we need to talk about." He sighed.

"Do we really have to? The puberty talk was already bad enough." I grumbled.

"I just need to know, why did you keep it from everyone?"

I exhaled, letting a large cloud of smoke out. "I regretted it, plain and simple. He wasn't the right person and I wish I could take it back. Pretending like it didn't happen is the best way I can do that."

He gave a nod. "Well I'm not going to give you trouble if that's what you were thinking. I just need to know you're being safe. Although you're the best part of my life, Ray and I having you as young as we did came with some problems. You have so much potential and I want you to be able to achieve that without worrying about a child."

My expression softened, finally realizing my dad's discomfort with me dating. He just wanted me to experience what he hadn't been able to. "Don't worry, I'm being careful. I mean, I fully intend to go to college and am not letting anything, especially a boy, screw that up."

He let out a small laugh and shook his head. "That's the daughter I raised."

I sighed, finally deciding to get the courage to address college with him. "Dad? Can I talk to you about college?"

He raised his brow. "What about?"

"So, Sven and Dimitri are applying to colleges and I would preferably like to try and get into the same ones as them, but a lot of them are either hours away from Moscow or out of the country. Would you be okay with that?" I hesitated.

"Of course. Why would I not be okay with that?" He questioned, giving me a look of confusion.

"Well you seemed not happy when I went to camp and you've said before how I'm all you have. Plus, how are you going to eat if I move out?"

He let out a hearty laugh, something that was rare for my dad to do in front of anyone else. "Yes, I was a bit sad to see you leave for camp, but I knew this was going to happen eventually. You're growing up and part of that includes going off on your own and finding your life away from me. Also, I think I can manage to learn how to cook well enough to survive without you. That's also what we pay the cooks for."

I smirked. "Are you sure about the food? Ray said he tried to teach you before and obviously that didn't take, hence the food poisoning incident."

He shook his head. "Hey, you're supposed to be bonding with him, not getting dirt."

I stuck out my tongue, going to finish off my cigarette. "That could be deemed as a form of bonding. But seriously, you're okay with me applying to colleges out of Moscow and the country?"

"Moscow, yes. The country will be a little more difficult, but if that's what makes you happy I'm not standing in your way."

I reached over, giving him a tight hug that he reciprocated before moving back to my spot to light another cigarette.

He grabbed it from my hand, putting it in his pocket causing me to scowl. "I'd be happy if you quit that though."

I rolled my eyes. "How am I supposed to quit when the person who's supposed to be an example to me is still doing it? A bit hypocritical, hmm Dad?"

He scoffed, about to speak before Ray poked his head out the window viewing where we were standing.

"Sorry to interrupt, but dinner is ready if the two of you would like to come in?"

We both nodded, making our way inside to sit alongside Tala, Bryan and Dimitri.

As the six of us sat and ate, Gabe came in half way through to join us. He came up behind Ray, giving him a kiss on the cheek before taking a seat beside him. As he did it was like a wave of scent washed over me, causing my senses to become overwhelming as I took it in. What was that? Was that coming from Gabe? After a few moments my senses dulled, leaving me with a dull headache as I contemplated what had just happened. I wasn't exactly sure, but Gabe smelled different.

When walking by him I'd noticed he always smelt strongly of this gross cologne, but this was different. He didn't smell familiar, almost like he had been around someone else. I narrowed my eyes, looking as he kept fawning over Ray. I wasn't sure what I had just experienced, but I knew that it was something I had to look further into.


	16. Chapter 16

**Ray's POV**

"You're lucky I'm not there right now Ray, otherwise I'd personally beat your son." Max threatened after having told him everything the next morning, and I didn't blame him for being angry since I was too.

"Do you think Stella knew?" I ask while groaning, trying to rest my head against the railing of the first-floor patio.

He seemed to pause a bit before answering. "No, I don't think so." He answered through a sigh and I only nodded even if he couldn't see. "If she did, she would have killed your son." He slightly chuckles, and I nod again.

"Right… I don't even know what to say to him right now, I'm extremely disappointed in him… For a lot of things, but this… I'm truly sorry Max." I don't bother to try and give him excuses, it won't work anyways since it was his son that got hurt in the end.

"Hey, it's their business in the end not ours." He answered, his stern tone lowering. "They haven't been able to come between the two of us before, we can't let it start now." I smiled a bit, he was right.

"Sorry, I just wanted to make sure."

"Besides the drama from yesterday, how are things?"

I couldn't hide the small smile now as it grew across my face, beyond everything my son had done wrong he had actually done something slightly right. If I wasn't so disappointed in him right now, I'd probably thank him for his scheming.

"Good, I mean beyond the restaurant and Gabe hardly being home right now it's… It's good." I answered as my shoulders relaxed a bit, my nose curling slightly as someone above me started to smoke on the second-floor balcony.

"Glad to hear that Ray, it's the same old same old here. Stella says hi by the way, I haven't really seen Matt much since yesterday."

"Do you think he's actually serious this time?" I asked, a frown slightly forming.

"I don't know, you know how he is. That's kind of why I'm a bit surprised it was Kain that stepped out of their relationship and not him." He sounded tense again.

"Hey, I got an idea." I cut in, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"Okay, shoot." He sounded normal once more, bless this blonde man for being easily swayed.

"I was thinking, that you and the others should come up our way and hang out." I tried to sound excited, I didn't think I had to tell him not to bring his possible daughter-in-law, but if I did that then Matt might not come at all and I didn't know which situation would be worse.

"You sure you don't want your, aloneeee time with Kai?" He drawled out and I rolled my eyes.

"Shut up, no that's the last thing I need right now." I seriously was starting to hate the fact he was so uncomfortable in new places, he was like a second shadow since he got here. "Just thought it'd be nice for the kids to see each other, I was gonna talk to Tyson after you."

"Oh, that doesn't sound too bad then. At least we could force the other three to be the mediators for the other two." He chuckled, meaning Thomas Stella and Victor stopping either of our sons from killing the other. "And I wouldn't mind seeing Kai after all these years, I'm sure Tyson would like it too."

"Not when I'm done strangling him to death." I butt in, slightly growling in my throat.

"Hey, you have no one to blame but yourself. You dug yourself into that hole all on your own, Kai too. I sort of agree with Kain's reasoning for not telling you, you guys did deserve it."

"Gee, and here I thought you had matured when you got older." I rolled my eyes again at him, a laugh catching between my words. "Will you though, will you come up here and just spend the day with us? I don't mind if we go somewhere, with Gabe constantly gone I feel alone and Kai has Tala and Bryan with him." I almost pouted out my lip as if he was standing in front of me.

"Yeah, that's fine. I don't have work tomorrow anyways and I'm done with my Christmas shopping. I guess I can bring Kain and your presents too while I'm there… Should I bring Kyra and Dimitri something?"

"Ugh… I don't know… We really haven't talked much, so I don't really know what she likes." Sure, we talked last night, and it was great, but I still didn't know her like I should. "I would suggest a gift card, but with a father like Kai she doesn't really need it." I chuckled, and he laughed.

"I'll talk to Stella about it, she roomed with her while at camp." He answered once his laughing fit had subsided. "What time should we head up your way?"

"Hm… Maybe noon? We can take everyone out to the square that's out here, do some ice skating and the mall is right by." The more I thought of it the more I smiled like an idiot, I was getting to spend Christmas with my kids like an actual family for once. Bless that stupid boy of mine.

"Okay Ray, I'll let you call Tyson then. I'm sure he'll be happy about it and agree right away."

"Alright Max, I'll see you tomorrow then." We hung up after that, all the while I was still smiling. The smell of smoke had been gone for a while, but I didn't know who had been up there all this time.

With the same stupid smile on my face I went back in, it was getting colder out there, and my cheeks felt like they were frozen. I pulled my jacket around me a bit tighter before stepping back in, it was four days until Christmas and the weather was calling for snow soon. Coming right inside the living room from the back patio was empty, I could hear Kai and Tala upstairs going over those papers of mine again. Kyra and Dimitri were in the kitchen talking, Bryan was back in the basement since I could hear the chains rattling from the punching bag. Kain, I didn't hear him anywhere in the house, so I could only assume he was the one outside above me and must have jumped the balcony after I left.

Figuring I'd start off with telling my plans to the actual other fathers I could stand to be around I started for the stairs, my ears perking as the front door opened behind me as I had just started up.

"Hey." Gabe called out behind me, I turned around to face him but didn't bother to come down and great him.

"You're back early."

"Just for a little bit, how is everything?" He asked, shaking out of his coat and placing it on the hook on the wall before coming to stand before me. I was only two steps up and we were now eyelevel.

"Good as it can be, are you going to be home tomorrow then?" I asked, leaning over and placing a quick kiss to his frozen lips.

"Actually, yes I will be. What'd you have planned?" He asked, giving me a smile.

"Was thinking about going to the square tomorrow with everyone." I shrugged as if it was no big deal, but it was to me as long as Kai and Tala agreed.

"Sounds perfect dear, I'm going to take a shower and nap for a bit while I have the chance." He leaned back over, kissing me a bit more roughly as if secretly inviting me to join him.

I pulled back and gave him an apologetic look, even though the idea sounded great I was on a mission. "Alright, I'll see you later." I smiled, fang and all and he looked a bit upset at his failed attempt of getting me to bed.

"Okay." He started to back away to head for his room, I took that as my cue to continue on my quest and started back up the stairs.

"I love you." I froze, only having made it up three more before he spoke again.

"Love you too." I said back, my words came out a bit shaky and I could hear him walk away.

That was, odd. It wasn't like him to just openly declare his love for me out in the open without reason, much like Kai used to be when we were together. Even though we haven't been intimate since October, I still loved the guy and I could only hope he wasn't feeling threatened with Kai and the others here since we still hadn't done anything together with them all here. I couldn't bring myself to do it, even if I had been less tense since they got here and my problems with the restaurant were starting to get taken care of with Kai and Tala working on it for me. It was his idea to let them stay, so I don't really know what his problem would be beyond that.

After my inner musings I found myself in front of Kai's door and knocked once, not having to wait too long for Kai to come and answer it. A knot seemed to form in the pit of my stomach, and once again I was fighting myself from comparing Kai to Gabriel. They say you should never 'downgrade' when you break up, and it never really occurred to me that I had until Kai came back into my life, but I couldn't help but stare into those damn eyes of his again and all thoughts of my 'mission' left my head.

"Everything alright?" His voice snapped me back from staring, I nodded and cleared my throat a bit.

"Yeah just fine. I wanted to ask you two something, can I come in?" I wasn't going to just barge into the room, even if it was Gabriel's house I wanted him to start feeling more comfortable being here.

"Sure." He moved aside, holding the door open for me and closed it once I stepped inside.

Tala was perched against the headboard of the bed, laptop propped against his legs and glasses? On his face, he looked good with them, but it was a bit of a shock to see him wearing them. The papers I had given them were scattered around the bed, some on the desk in the corner of the room.

"What's up Ray?" Tala asked while he looked up from his laptop, adjusting his glasses on his face a bit.

"Well, I was thinking." I started and sat at the chair by the desk, Kai stayed by the door and took his normal stance against it.

"Uh oh, is that a good or bad thing?" Tala teased, and I smirked at him as he gave me his own. Who knew we could have come so close in such a short amount of time, his new demeanor slightly reminded me of Max.

"Well, that's up to you guys. I called Max a bit ago and invited him up here, he's two hours away, and I'm going to ask Tyson and Kenny to come as well. I was thinking we could all get out of the house tomorrow, go to the square downtown and ice-skate and there's a mall nearby." I kept my focus on Tala, afraid that if I looked back over at Kai I'd become a bumbling idiot.

Tala blinked at me a few times, shifting his gaze to Kai and so I followed but it didn't look like he was going to speak yet. "Sure, I don't see why not. The kids could use the time out of the house, it's supposed to start snowing though."

I nodded, looking back to him. "Yeah, but it shouldn't be that bad till later in the night. I was looking at going around noon."

"I don't mind going with you, Kai?" I moved my focus on Kai again, praying that he'd agree to go.

"Does Tyson really have to come?"

"I want to strangle him just as much as you do, trust me." I don't know if that was the right thing to say but he smirked, and I could only take that as a good sign.

"Besides, he'll find out you're here anyways and come see you eventually. Might as well get it over with." He nodded and moved from the door over to the bed and sat down by Tala's feet, I don't know why he had decided to stay by the door all this time.

"How's Kain?" He started, and I couldn't help but notice the shift in Tala's eyes between Kai and me.

I shrugged, relaxing a bit into the chair I was sitting in. "Don't know, haven't seen him since last night. I think he went back to the lake a bit ago, I was outside, and someone was smoking but I couldn't smell them past the smoke."

"He smokes, Kyra does to and before you start I already had a talk with her about it." Kai said, and I nodded even though I already knew they both smoked. I might not be able to smell it on them all the time, but when they're close enough I can.

"I know he does."

"He said you didn't." Kai's eyes went a bit wide and I waved him off.

"I like him to think I don't know everything, keeps him on his toes. Do I agree with it? No, not at all. I just haven't found the right way to bring it up yet, or his drinking but he doesn't do that nearly as much as smoking. I try not to be too hypocritical about it, we were no different back then." He seems to understand my reasons and nods a bit, I like being able to talk to him like this.

"Tomorrow is fine then, I don't mind as long Kyra is alright with it."

"I haven't brought it up to the kids yet, figured you two should give me your answers first." I told him and he slightly smirked, yes, I still think you should be the one to make decisions for our daughter.

"Kain might be harder to convince since Matt might be there, but we don't have to tell him that." I smiled, and his smirk grew.

"Now I see where he gets his scheming from." Tala said, I had almost forgotten he was there.

"Scheming?" I turned to look at him questioningly and he looked away rather quickly back to his laptop. "Oh, this… Yeah, not very happy about being left in the dark, but I am happy that you guys came. By the way, have you two found out my problem?"

"Not yet." Kai answered quickly.

"Damn, I didn't think I was that hopeless." I chuckled and shook my head a bit. "Well, let me know what you find. Maybe I'll take you there to see it- if you want." I stood from the chair, ready to leave since my mission had been completed.

"Sure." He nodded and once again I saw Tala's eyes shift from Kai to me and then back to his laptop with a tiny smile on his lips, no Tala it's not what you're thinking!

"Better go find that boy of yours then." I started towards the door, offering them a wave over my shoulder as I left.

"I think he's more yours than mine." He shot back but it wasn't scornful, if anything it was playful.

"Oh no, he's definitely your son. Just you wait and see." I played back as I opened the door, my heart starting to race in my chest as I saw that smile on his lips.

He didn't say anything back, just shook his head a bit with that smile still on his face. I closed the door behind me, trying to block out that image of him in my head as I tried to slow my heart down. You would think after all these years, all the heartbreak he put me through I wouldn't be feeling this way. I never thought I would be, not when I'm about to be married for heavens sake!

If I were to call it off with Gabe, would Kai even want to be back with me? No, I can't think like that, not after all this time there's no way. We have separate lives, I have a life here and I'm content. Aren't I?

* * *

 **Kai's POV**

After Ray's departure, Tala's smirk turned into a full-on grin, his blue eyes sparking with deviance.

"What is this look for?" I sighed, shaking my head.

"Were those sparks I just noticed or am I seeing things?" He gushed, raising his brows at me.

"What are you going on about?"

"You and Ray? Playful banter? Kind of felt like flirting if you ask me." He suggested, taking his glasses off now that he wasn't reading.

I scoffed, shaking my head. Sure, Ray and I were getting along, but it wasn't flirting. We were joking around about our kids and being friendly.

"That wasn't flirting."

Tala shook his head and clucked his tongue. "Oh, young Kai, you still don't see how your behaviour can come across. Joking around, genuinely smiling? You do realize these are things you don't do with us, right? Only people I've ever seen you this way with are Kyra and Ray."

"I can joke around with people, Tala. We used to be close and have two children together, of course I'm going to be that way with him." I frowned, crossing my arms. Sure, Ray and I had been surprisingly good after fourteen years of not speaking and everything I'd done, but that didn't mean there were still feelings there, did it?

"No, what just happened was a lot more than that. I haven't seen you light up like that since you were twenty. Since Ray left you. Be honest with me, Hiwatari. Do you still have feelings for him?" Tala badgered.

I sighed. Dammit Tala, why do you have to be so nosy and persistent? I'd be lying if I said my feelings for Ray ever really went away. I mean, he was the one who wanted to end our relationship in the first place. Even though I was working and barely home, I still loved him immensely. He was probably the only person I ever would love. I hadn't met anyone else that made me feel the way he did or had the impact he did on me. He accepted me when no one else did, looked out for me when I wouldn't let him in, stuck around through my hardships and betrayals and most of all, gave me the gifts of our daughter and son, even if I only had gotten to experience one of them. Ray had been my everything and that was something that seemed to not go away, even after all these years. But he had moved on.

"I'm right, aren't I?" He smirked.

"Even though you are, there isn't anything I can do about this. He's engaged, Tala." I shook my head.

"So? Engaged isn't married. There's room for error in there." He shrugged.

"He's happy though. I fucked up fourteen years ago. I was the one who worked too much, I left him and our kids alone, I took our daughter to another country and didn't tell him. All I did was hurt him over and over and now he has someone that makes him happy, who can give him what I didn't. Do I wish it were us? Yes. But I care more about his happiness than my feelings. I'm not what he needs Tala." I spoke, my voice getting softer as I finished. I hadn't said this to anyone before.

"Wow. Pretty sure this is the first time you've really opened up to me about something outside of our kids. How long you been holding that in?" He whistled.

"Loving him? Fourteen years. Fighting with myself over letting him go? Since we got here." I huffed.

"Kai, he could not be as happy as you think? I mean, it doesn't hurt to bring it up and see how he reacts? Maybe he feels the same way. Plus, it would be nice to see you worry about your own happiness for once." He asked softly, his blue eyes giving off sympathy.

I shook my head, standing to go over to the desk once again. "No. I refuse to break up his shot at happiness for my own selfish purposes. He has Gabe and Kain, he doesn't need me ruining it. I am happy. I have my daughter and I'm getting to know my son. I may not have a partner, but my kids are what I need to focus on right now."

Tala sighed, shaking his head, obviously not agreeing with my decision. I didn't care what he thought. I knew I was making the right decision. I needed to focus on the real goal of this trip, getting to know my son and letting my daughter get to know the person who had given birth to her. That was all this was.

 _"Stop it! That hurts!" I heard Kyra cry, looking over to see my nine-year-old daughter getting her long, raven braid tugged on from behind by her little brother. His face looked blurry, but I knew Kain was giving a mischievous smirk in response. Why did he have to terrorize his older sister every chance he got?_

 _"Kain Taxon Hiwatari, let go of your sister's hair now." I said sternly, causing him to let go of it and give me a grin before running off to play in another room. I went over, bending down to her level and smoothing the top of her hair. "You okay?"_

 _She nodded, giving me a soft smile. "Yeah. Thanks Dad." She kissed my cheek before going back to the couch where she had been reading her book before the hair tugging._

 _I stood up, hearing a sigh behind me and feeling a pair of familiar arms wrap around my shoulders._

 _"You coddle her too much, you know. He's her little brother. He's going to try and tease her when he can. She's also turning ten this year. You can't keep coming to her rescue every time." Ray said softly, watching on as Kyra became engrossed in her book yet again._

 _I smiled, leaning into his embrace. "I know. It's just hard to see her upset. She's only our little girl once."_

 _"Yes, but we also have a little boy on our hands who is trying to test his boundaries. Let Kyra call him out if she had a problem with it. He's still learning and might learn more from his sister than if his Dad keeps giving him trouble."_

 _"Now who's playing favorites?" I smirked, causing him to stick his tongue out at me._

 _He chuckled, kissing my neck before moving away. "Hey, maybe if you gave him a chance you'd see he can be some fun too."_

 _I sat in the car outside the kid's middle school, being greeted by my children yelling at each other instead of a hello._

 _"You suck! Why would you do that?!" Kyra yelled, her pupils constricted showing she was pissed._

 _"Hey, you weren't saying anything and he wasn't saying anything so why not? I mean, come on sis, maybe you shouldn't leave your diary where others can find it?" Kain commented, his face looking even more distorted than before. Why couldn't I make out my son?_

 _"What is the meaning of this? What happened?" I groaned. It had been five years and Kyra and Kain were now in middle school. Kyra was fourteen, meaning she was in grade eight, while Kain was twelve and in grade six._

 _"Kain read my diary in front of everyone at lunch!" She growled._

 _"Not word for word, I just informed a certain someone that you liked them! As well as the rest of the cafeteria." Kain stated._

 _"Wait, what?" I asked. Kyra liked someone? She was fourteen. How was she already interested in boys?_

 _"Kyra and Dimitri, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I" SMACK. Did Kyra just slap her brother across the face? You bet she did._

 _"I'm walking home. I refuse to be in the same car as him." She hissed, getting out of the car and slamming the door behind her._

 _I sighed, resting my head against the steering wheel. "Kain…"_

 _"I know, I know. 'I'll let Papa handle this'." He said, doing his impression of me._

 _"I'll be right back." I muttered, getting out to run after my raging daughter. "Kyra, get back in the car. I understand you're angry but we'll work this out at home."_

 _She looked back, her eyes full of angry tears. "Today was humiliating. Dimitri won't even talk to me."_

 _"I know. I promise we'll work this all out at home with Papa." I said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder. She sighed, making her way back to the car as her way of agreeing._

 _The drive home was quiet. A bit too quiet for the two of them. I looked back to see Kyra with headphones in but Kain was gone. I slammed on the breaks, getting Kyra's attention._

" _Kyra, where did Kain go? He was in the car when we left, wasn't he?" I panicked._

" _Kain? Who's that?" She questioned._

" _Uh your brother? Don't tell me you're mad enough you're going to pretend he doesn't exist." I groaned. This was no time for jokes, Kyra._

" _Honestly Dad, I don't know who that is. It's just you and me, unless there's a brother you never told me about? Are you okay?"_

I shot up, my breathing a bit hitched in panic. That dream…what was that? I had dreamt of Ray many times in the past years. Mostly just having dreams of past memories we had shared, never what the future would have been like. But dreaming of Kain and not being able to see his face? This was a strange occurrence, even for my mind.

I sighed, running my hand through my sweat covered bangs. I could see Kyra clear as day, same went for Ray. But Kain just kept getting less visible as my dream had gone on. I mean, I had missed out on his upbringing. Possibly a reflection of not knowing him? We had talked a few times, but never in depth and always with both of us being on edge. Kyra had started to try with Ray, why could Kain and I not seem to get there? Was there still a possibility at salvaging the almost non-existing relationship I had with my son?


	17. Chapter 17

**Kain's POV**

I wonder if my dad really does enjoy torturing me or not, why would he think it'd be a good idea to invite uncle Max out with us today? I tried to protest, make this morning as hellish as I possibly could just to get out of going and he all but laughed at my attempts as he saw right through me. At least now I wasn't having fifty different emotions running through my head, since he told me I had come off my heat the other day and that was why I had been rendered so tired.

The only real feelings I have right now, besides being utterly cold, is anger and hurt. I'm angry because Gabe came along, attached to dad's hip but what else is new? I'm angry because Matt did come even though dad tried to tell me he might not come at all, but he did, and he brought Brittany with him. I'm trying to hide my feelings, whatever they maybe for him. Once again, I feel alone, even with the others from my team nearby me.

Thomas has been nothing but his happy and joyful self, while Victor has stuck by his parents as if he's a scared three-year-old. Stella has sent me death glares, trying to secretly tell me I need to get over myself and mend things with her brother. I don't know if she knows now, I know uncle Max does since he told me he was rather disappointed in me the first chance he got. That was all he had said before walking away to skate with his daughter, trust me I'm disappointed in myself too.

At least one of my plans is working, Kyra and Dimitri seem to be doing better since two days ago when the world was crashing down on us all. Right now, they're skating around the rink making those puppy love eyes to each other once again. Tala and Bryan are following them around a bit, and I can see Tala practically gushing even from where I'm sitting on the picnic table. Pretty much everyone who has someone to skate with is doing so, dad with Gabe, Tala with Bryan and so forth. The only other one who seems to be alone is Kai, he's still out there skating though not too far from Tala and Bryan.

Everyone makes another lap around the rink, and I try not to growl in my throat as Matt and Brittany pass by. At the end of the group Kai brings up the rear, he doesn't follow the others and steps out coming over towards me. Great, what do you want?! As if to spite me more he sits on the seat portion of the picnic table right at my feet and lights up a cigarette, damn him.

"What is it with my children and not knowing when to say something?" Did he mean to say that out loud, and to me?! I can't help but just stare at the side of his head a bit, wanting to snatch his damn cigarette from between his lips and finish it myself.

"There's nothing to say." I tell him the same thing I told dad, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Do I look like an idiot to you?" He looks over his shoulder at me, eyes narrowing and brow creasing.

"Yes, yes you do actually." I answer him, and he glares harder at me, so what I can do that too.

"And you're okay with this, letting it end the way it has?" He asks me, and I'm still unsure why he's bothering to talk to me.

"Didn't seem to bother you all that much, leaving what you had with dad." I bite back, he growls in his throat and goes to stand but I reach out and pull him back down. "Sorry, I didn't mean that."

He nods slightly and moves to sit beside me on the top of the table, glancing around before passing me his half-finished cigarette. I raise an eyebrow at him but take it anyways, not really caring if I'm caught right now since he put himself in dad's line of sight.

"Thanks." I breathe out a cloud of smoke, my nerves relaxing a bit. "I know why you left, Kyra told me about the talk you gave her when she confronted you." He nods and stuffs his hands in his jacket pockets, but doesn't bother to say anything else to me until I finish the cigarette he offered.

"How long have they been together?" He nods slightly towards Dad and Gabe as they move around the rink again, hand in hand.

"Five years, almost six. I just turned ten when Gabe asked dad out, he was my doctor. Why?" I cock an eyebrow at him and he seems to stiffen a bit beside me.

"Ray asked me to go over the paper work for the restaurant, Tala and I have found some things that are making me believe that someone is scamming Ray out of his money."

"You think it's Gabe?" He shakes his head a bit.

"No, not if he's the co-owner he'd only be stealing from himself. We haven't found anything concrete yet though, I was just asking."

I scoff a bit. "He may be co-owner, but it's been all dad's money. Gabe hasn't paid a cent in getting it set up, but now you mention it, it does seem suspicious that since Gabe came into our lives dads had nothing but trouble in getting it ready."

"I still can't point fingers, not until I have something more solid to go on."

"You don't like him, do you?" I question and nudge him in the side, smirking at him.

He frowns a bit and shakes his head. "I haven't been given a reason not to like him, Ray seems happy enough." Really, how blind are you?

"My statement stands then, you are stupid." He shoots me another one of his glares and I hold my hands up to him, trying to show him I mean no harm in my words.

"If you can't see it, then you're just as bad as me." I tell him, and he slightly looks like he understands.

We fall in silence for a bit, by now I'm becoming more nervous the longer he sits beside me and shift where I'm sitting. His eyes have been closed for the most part, as if he's trying to block out the world around him.

"Hey." I speak up, not really liking the silence anymore.

"Hn?"

"Want to know something?" He doesn't respond but opens his eyes to meet mine, at least I know he's giving me his attention. "After I got back home, and I was talking with Kyra, I did some research on you. Call me nosy or what you will, but I found a lot about you on the internet."

"Like?"

"Well, for starters you and dad were on a Beyblade team together. That team was turned into the team I'm now on, but that's beside the point. I know you run a promising business, all that sort of stuff. One thing I did find though that was interesting, was the newspaper articles that announced our births." He arches an eyebrow at me, and I smirk a bit bigger where a fang slips out.

"And?"

"I saw the picture of you, dad, and Kyra. It was a cute little picture of the three of you, and you two looked really happy. What struck me as interesting though was the smile on dad's face. I don't know you that well, and from what I've seen is you don't smile all that much. Dad though, he smiles at just about everything. That smile though, the one in the picture, I have never seen before." I continue as he seems to be mulling over what I'm telling him, his eyes shift past me as I can smell dad and Gabe go back around the rink and he looks back down at me.

"I have never seen that kind of smile from dad, not for me, not for Gabe, not for anyone. I have seen it though, since you've been around. Still, it's not for me or Gabe or even Kyra. It's whenever you two are talking, or when he thinks no one is looking. Sure, the first night wasn't pleasant, but the past two days have been for him and I've seen that smile." I tell him, I honestly don't know what he'll do with the information though.

"Why bother telling me?"

I shrug a bit, not really sure myself besides to make him make some kind of move. "Just thought you should know."

"I'm not about to make Ray cheat on his fiancé." Instead of that calm tone he's had with me it's turned colder now.

"Didn't say you had to, he might do that all on his own. It's been pretty quiet the past two months in the house, even more so since you all showed up. Not that I'm complaining." I tell him, hoping he'll get what I'm hinting at as I jump off the table. "I'm just saying to keep your own eyes open, mine might be shut tight right now but that's for me to worry about."

"What's holding you back, besides making the one mistake?"

"Should ask yourself that, don't you think?" I smirk again and start away from him, heading to the ice rink to join the others finally.

"Kain! Bout time you showed up, I thought your butt got frozen to the table." Thomas shouts at me as he comes around the rink, I reach out and grab his arm in order to skate beside him.

"Any longer and it would have." I laugh with him, following the others around the rink. Luckily, I'm actually in front of Matt and Brittany so I don't have to see them, the ends of my scarf trailing behind me as I pick up speed.

"Whoa, slow down there Kain!" Thomas calls out, but his laughing tells me he's having fun as I swing him out from me and skate up to catch him before he falls.

"Oh, my hero!" He fake swoons in my arms and I laugh with him as he straightens himself up.

"That looked like so much fun!" Brittany comes up to us as we haven't moved yet, losing our place in the group.

"If you like to feel like you're about to die, sure." Thomas laughs out, and I smirk.

"I would never let that happen." I tell him, trying to avoid meeting Matt's gaze.

"Still looked like fun to me." Brittany giggled behind her hand, I'd say she's rather cute if it wasn't for her being with Matt and all.

"C'mon, my legs are getting tired we should go rest." Matt says moving closer to Brittany and I try with all my being not to growl.

"Actually." I take the two steps I need to stand in front of him, turning my attention to Brittany. "Can I borrow this?" I ask as I grab Matt's arm that had been moving to Brittany's back.

"Sure." She says, and I don't waste time by dragging us away from the others.

"This? Really?" Matt grumbles out to me as we're near the other end of the rink away from them, I let him go and now I'm not sure what I'm doing.

I shrug to him. "Hey, she said I could." He rolls his eyes at me. "How long are we going to keep doing this?" I ask him, though I'm not sure if I want an answer now.

"Doing what?" He bites out at me.

"This." I motion towards him. "You know what I mean, we were fine at camp until that battle, after that though we were fine. What changed?" I fold my arms over my chest, trying to hide the fact that I'm shaking.

"I had to act like things were okay." Oh…

"Oh." I shift my eyes away from his, he sighs out in front of me and I only glance back at him quickly.

"What do you want me to say Kain?"

I shrug again. "Whatever you want." I chew the inside of my cheek, it does nothing to help this sudden nervousness I have in me though. What do I want him to say, what did I even want to say?

"You fucked up Kain." Because I didn't know that already. "There's nothing to say, not now and not ever." He turns away from me and I feel my heart shattering, without thinking I grab his wrist again.

"I'm sorry, for everything. You know that, I told you after it happened that I didn't mean for it to."

"It doesn't matter now, does it?" He sneers, his blue eyes turning colder the longer he looks at me.

"It should! Dammit it should fucking matter to you! You of all people it should matter, after I had to put up with your flirting to other people and shit."

"But I never acted on it!" Well, he's got me there. "Let me go." He tries to pull away, but my grip only tightens on him.

"Not until we fix this!" I shout at him, willing my pupils not to slit in my anger.

"You can't fix everything Kain."

"Maybe you're right, but I sure as hell can try!" I lower my tone, trying to still my nerves. "Please, I just want to be your friend again."

"Do I have a choice?" He sighs out.

Is that all I am and ever will be to people, a choice? Should they stay, or should they go if given the opportunity? I didn't really give dad a choice when I brought everyone here, I didn't really give Kyra a choice in the matter either.

"You do." I let him go and back away. "If you don't want to be friends anymore you have that choice, I'll even leave the team."

"That's not what I meant."

"Doesn't matter, I will leave the team if you can't stand being around me. I don't blame you, it's not your fault that I'm a screw up. I just wanted to try and make things right." I'm losing my voice as its barely above a whisper now, he can hear me, but I feel weaker in my words and what I had even wanted from him. What did I want, a declaration of our never-ending friendship or love?

"Just… Just give me some time." His voice isn't cold anymore when he speaks to me, I only nod but don't look back up at him.

"Boys, we're leaving let's go!" Max calls out, snapping me out of my wandering thoughts.

Matt sighs out and skates away, I follow after him after a minute or two more. At least I made some progress I guess, it did nothing to help me though and definitely not when he grabbed hold of Brittany's hand and held onto it as they exited the rink together. If anything, it caused my heart to sink and I breathed out a sigh. I jumped out of my skin when an arm came around mine, pulling me close and perfume invaded my senses.

"It'll be alright." Kyra said as we left the rink together.

"Thanks sis."

* * *

 **Kyra's POV**

After skating, Ray and Max had suggested that all of us go to the mall to go Christmas shopping, something I happily agreed to since getting Christmas gifts had been the last thing on my mind with all of this madness. Dimitri had decided to go with Tala and Bryan, saying he had to get a few things to finish off gifts. The rest of the Bladebreaker cohort decided to hit up the food court with their parents, Ray and Gabe went off on their own paths. That left Kain, Dad and I to our own devices until Dad decided to part ways with us.

"I need to pick up a few things. You two will be fine on your own?" He asked, glancing at both of us.

We both nodded, giving him permission to leave the two of us to do our own shopping.

"So, where should we hit up first, sis?" Kain asked, his hands behind his head casually.

"Well who do we want to shop for first? I have a few ideas for Dad but none for Ray." I explained.

Before Kain had brought this trip up I had been planning to get Dad a few books about the history of Russia since he was interested in things like that, but Kain had gotten the idea to get the two of them gifts that went together.

"I have ideas for Dad but only one really for Kai. Apparently, this scarf used to be his, so I thought I could get him a new one. Not really sure what he likes though." He responded, holding up the ends of the long white scarf he sported. I had thought it looked familiar. I'd seen pictures of Dad, Tala, Bryan and Spencer together as teens where he had been wearing it.

I nodded. "Start with Dad and then we can brainstorm as we go for Ray?" I asked.

Kain nodded with a smile, turning to start leading the way to one of the various men's clothing stores in the mall. I ended up leading him towards a grey scarf made out of a soft, heavy cotton.

"This is very Kai Hiwatari. He doesn't have anything like this though." I commented, tugging on the scarf that was hanging on a wall.

He came over, inspecting it by looking closely and feeling it. He then tried it on, standing in front of the mirror before taking it off and turning towards the registers. "I like this one."

I smirked, shaking my head at his behavior. "Hey, I still need to get a gift for him too. I was thinking a sweater since he's been wearing casual clothes a lot more."

He turned to face me, smiling apologetically before sweeping his arm to gesture towards the whole store. "Well you have a whole store of choices."

I nodded, turning away to sift through the various things in the outerwear section. I ended up settling on a nice black wool sweater that buttoned up, something he could wear while here but also wear on milder days at home.

We continued to walk through the mall, my eyes locking on a fancier tea shop in the corner of the place. I pointed, raising my eyebrows in interest.

"How about a tea set with some different types of tea from there? Ray likes tea, doesn't he?" I asked.

Kain nodded. "He does. Usually drinks the same old green tea every day so it would be nice for him to be able to try something different."

The two of us wandered in, looking at the large wall full of various types of teas all held in large cylinder-shaped containers. We sampled a few, deciding on three different ones; Sweet Berry, Cinnamon Chai and a fancy green tea called Buddha's Blend, which I'm pretty sure Kain just picked because he thought the name was ironic. When it came to picking a tea pot and cups, Kain frowned and turned to me.

"I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to afford this one. I saved up a good amount from helping Dad with various things but getting a good one of these is going to drain me." Kain sighed while eyeing a baby blue tea pot with delicate china cups.

I shrugged, picking the set up anyways. "Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it."

"R-really?" Kain stuttered, starring at me wide eyed.

I smirked in response, never seeing him this flustered before. So far, I'd just seen the bouncy, cocky version of himself that he seemed to always present. It was nice to see him show a bit of vulnerability. "Yeah of course. You seem to really like it, so why not? Plus, this is one of the perks of being the child of a millionaire. As long as it's not a huge, stupid purchase, Dad really doesn't care what I use the credit card for."

He smiled softly as I went towards the register to pay. "Thanks sis. Dad is seriously going to love this."

As we walked out I remembered my experience the other day with my sense of smell being overloaded and decided to bring it up to him. "Speaking of Ray, I had an odd experience that night you decided to skip out on dinner."

"Hmm? What happened?" He questioned, brow raised.

"Everything was normal until Gabe walked in. It was like my sense of smell got overloaded, experiencing everything at a heightened level. I'd never experienced that before but even weirder, Gabe smelt different. Normally when I walk past him he smells like that gross, overpriced cologne but that night he smelt…different." I explained, shaking my head in confusion.

"Well, what you experienced is probably some of your neko-jin senses breaking through. It's normal to be able to smell stuff like that. But Gabe? Do you remember what he smelt like?" He queried.

I shook my head with a frown. "It happened so fast that by the time I realized it, my senses had gone back to normal. I just know it didn't smell like him or Ray."

"Weird. I usually try to avoid him, so I haven't really noticed. Thanks for the tip though. I'll try and stick close to him and see if I can figure out what that bastard is up to." He grimaced.

"How about we go get coffee?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood. It was weird to see him so broody lately when I was so used to the bouncy way he went about everything.

His face lit up again, giving me his usual smile with his fang popped out. "Sure!" He hooked his arm in mine like I had at the skating rink, leading me towards the closest Starbucks.

As to be expected, the line was long but the two of us didn't really mind since the others were still shopping and we were already ahead of schedule. I'd been checking my phone, trying to figure out where my Dad had ended up only to get no response. I went to check my phone again, only to feel a firm hand grasp underneath my dress, coping a feel at my ass. I jumped forward, looking back and giving a nasty glare to a sleazy looking guy behind us. He looked a few years older than me with messy brown hair and a knowing smirk on his face.

"Hey!" I growled, trying to pull my dress down.

I didn't usually wear dresses but for skating with Dimitri I had wanted to dress up, even if it wasn't necessarily a date. I had decided to wear a long sleeve black dress that went just above my knees with a pair of knee high socks, thinking it looked nice, not thinking that someone would try to openly grope me in the middle of the mall.

"What's wrong?" Kain questioned, looking at me then at the man I was glaring at.

"This guy just grabbed my ass." I snarled, feeling my eyes start to get blurry like they had been more often than none.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I just got pushed and accidentally brushed against you. My apologies." The guy faked, still eyeing me up and down.

I shook my head in frustration. "I think I know what I felt, and it felt a lot more than just a brush against me."

"Look, you're making a big deal out of-" He started, getting cut off by my brother's fist hitting him square in the jaw, knocking the man back into the line that parted for him as he fell to the ground.

My eyes went wide as Kain stood between the man and I, when he had moved in front of me I saw his eyes were slit and looking down right pissed.

"Don't you DARE call my sister a liar! And keep your hands OFF of her or you'll get worse than that!" He growled, his fangs bare.

I had never seen this side of him, for a moment he reminded me of Dad. Standing there in front of me like a shield, even though I could have done it myself, I knew he needed to blow off some steam, so I stood back. The man rubbed the side of his already swelling face, while others were whispering and gasping around us.

It seems our little scene had caught the attention of security; two guards had approached us trying to take both the guy and Kain into custody before I heard a familiar voice.

"What is the meaning of this?" Never had I been so glad to hear my Dad's voice. I turned to see him with a scowl on his face, glancing from the security members to Kain and I.

"This asshole grabbed Kyra, so I taught him a lesson and now these guys want to put me in mall jail when this guy is the one being a creep to underage girls!" Kain yelled, motioning towards the sleazy guy as one of the security guards tried to keep a tight hold on his arm.

"That won't be necessary. I will take the two of them from here." Dad said simply.

"But sir, this boy has clearly broken the rule against fighting within the mall. It's our job to-" One of the men stuttered.

"And I am Kai Hiwatari, CEO of Hiwatari Enterprises, and that so happens to be my son you're trying to reprimand." He stated. Playing the good old CEO card, classic Dad.

The two men's eyes went wide, one quickly letting go of Kain's arm and both bowing to show respect to Dad.

"We are sorry, sir. Please, feel free to take your children."

"Hn." He grunted, motioning for the two of us to follow him. Once far enough away from the whole scene he turned to me, a look of concern in his eyes. "Are you alright? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

I shook my head, feeling my cheeks heat up. "He just grabbed under my dress. Nothing hurt but my pride."

I heard him swear in Russian under his breath, turning his attention to Kain. "Thank you for defending her. Just make sure not to get caught by security next time."

Kain grinned, obviously happy about receiving gratification from Dad. I'm pretty sure this was one of the first nice things I'd heard Dad say about Kain. "You've got it, old man!"

Dad sighed, shaking his head at us as he turned to start walking. "Come on, Ray and the others are waiting for us to go get dinner. Also, stop calling me that."

"I'll stop when you stop being old." Kain shot back, causing me to snicker a bit.

"Hey, you're supposed to be on my side." Dad groaned.

"What did you really expect getting both of your kids together? It's our job to tease you." I smirked.

"Can we go back to when the two of you didn't know each other?" He grimaced, showing his sarcasm with a smirk.

Kain and I laughed in response, following along to join everyone else to end our day. For the first time since coming here, it felt like we were finally becoming a real family. We approached the others by the front of the mall doors, Dimitri and I shared a quick smile and I took in the many bags he was holding at his sides. Tala had nothing in his hands, making his husband carry everything. Ray had a few bags at his sides, while Gabe was standing beside him on his phone. I couldn't stop the frown coming to my face, trying to hide it as we stepped up closer to everyone.

Beside me I noticed Kain tense a bit, obviously he was trying to avoid looking at Matt and the girl he was with now. I linked my arm with his again, bringing him back from whatever was going through his mind and he leaned down to whisper in my ear.

"He smells the same as always, that nasty gunk with a hint of dad." He said, and I simply nodded.

"What was all the commotion a minute ago?" Ray asked, and Kain smirked as he pulled away.

"Punched someone." He said confidently, and I watched Ray's face fall, I had to hide behind my hand to show I wasn't smirking.

Ray shook his head slightly, looking like he might have a headache. "Do I want to know?"

"Just some creep dad, I took care of it. Then old man came in and smoothed it out." Kain said, his smirk not wavering even when Dad smacked him on the back of his head.

"Quit calling me that! It's fine Ray, I'll tell you later." Ray simply nodded, and I was bit more than pleased the two didn't want to discuss what had happened around everyone else. More than likely if everyone else knew right now, there would be a man-hunt from my uncles and their son, something we did not need right now.

"Alright, well our reservation is set up. Just follow us there." Ray said, and I noticed the smile he was giving Dad when their eyes met. I had never really seen that smile before, he had smiled at me and even though Kain caused him to frown a lot he had never really smiled like that to him either, not even at Gabe.

"Hey, can I drive this time?" Kain asked, slipping from my arm as he followed Ray out of the doors.

"No, you may not." Ray bit back, shoving Kain playfully away from him as he grabbed for the keys.

"He's not so bad, is he?" I asked Dad as he walked beside me, the second we came out he was lighting a cigarette.

"Hn." He shrugged. "Guess not."


	18. Chapter 18

**Ray's POV**

It's rather quiet in the house, and I'm actually surprised that Kain isn't upstairs running around trying to wake everyone up since it is Christmas morning. More than likely Kyra threatened to beat him if he woke her up at the crack of dawn though, I smirk at the thought. Before I wouldn't be worried about her beating her younger brother into a pulp, but since she's been around us her speed has been getting faster, whether she realizes it or not her neko-jin blood is starting to take over. I'm surprised she's handling it well though, I was slightly afraid it would have overwhelmed her.

"Morning dear." Gabe yawns to me as he steps into the kitchen, already he's dressed and ready for work.

"I thought you were going to be home?" I turn to him and watch as he starts the coffee machine beside me at the stove, why is it that I pick men who are never around?

"Wish I could dear, but I just got called in. Bad accident because of the snow and all." I nod a bit in understanding, though that doesn't help me feeling a bit let down.

"Hey." He steps over to me and lifts my chin in his hands to meet his dull green eyes, a soft smile on his lips. "I'll be home as soon as I can."

"Just be careful out there, don't need you in the hospital aside for work related things." He chuckles at my joke before placing a quick kiss to my lips, I press back but there's nothing there. No shock, no excitement, I'd say it's because of him having to leave and that's shot my happy mood ten feet below ground. I know better though, it's because all I can think about is the father of my children as I can hear him waking upstairs.

"I'll see you later, save a plate for me." He pulls away and grabs a thermos for his coffee, before I had time to really process him leaving he was out the front door.

I breathe a sigh and turn back to what I was doing, making Christmas dinner for everyone. By now the others are waking up, Kain is jumping around like I knew he would be and shouting for Kyra to hurry up with her makeup. I chuckle to myself listening to them yell back at each other, placing the prepared ham into the oven for the day.

"I am not jumping that!" Kyra shouts out.

"C'mon, it's fun. You'll land on your feet, I promise." Kain says to her and I step out to the foyer to watch this.

"Kain, leave your sister alone and let her use the stairs. You should start using them too." I tell him looking up to them on the second-floor landing, Kain is already perched on the railing.

"She'll be fine, c'mon sis." He says over his shoulder to her, holding a hand out for her to take.

"Kain." I warn again with a stern tone, though I'm taken back when Kyra sighs and takes his hand. "Kyra, you don't have to." I say, and my heart is racing in my chest.

"If I break a leg, I'm breaking both of yours." She warns in a low growl, Kain just smirks to her and next thing I know she lets out a scream as Kain throws her over the railing.

She lands perfectly on her feet, I breathe out a sigh of relief for her and pray that she doesn't harm her brother too much for doing that as he lands beside her.

"See, told you." He grins to her and she pushes her bangs out of her eyes, glaring at him and I notice her pupils are slit. "Don't hold them like that for too long or you'll get a major headache."

She blinks a few times at his words, I don't think she really knows what he's talking about and after another blink her pupils are back to normal.

"Are you alright?" I step up, I move my hand to touch her shoulder but pull back before I can.

"Yeah, I'm fine… That was actually kind of fun." She smiles to me and Kain's grin widens.

"Told ya."

"Kain, don't push her too much." I warn him and head back to the kitchen, where they follow behind me.

Kain makes them both a cup of coffee before they sit at the bar behind me, by then the others are coming through the archway of the kitchen.

"Morning Ray, what was all that screaming just a second ago?" Tala asks as he steps in.

"Just Kain terrorizing his sister." I roll my eyes, rolling the pie dough on the counter.

"I'm fine dad." Kyra says quickly, and I can only guess Kai was glaring at our son. "I am hungry though, what's for breakfast?"

"Nothing." Kain pipes up and I can hear the joke a mile away before he even says it, I roll my eyes again and decide to ignore him.

"What do you mean 'nothing'?" Kyra asks rather angrily.

"There's an unspoken rule, we don't eat anything until dinner. So, we're all just going to have to starve till dad decides to feed us."

I turn back around and lean against the counter, Kyra's face is priceless, and she looks like she actually believes him for a minute, Dimitri does to.

"Kain quit lying to everyone, you all can eat whatever you find." After I spoke Kyra jabbed her fist into Kain's arm, though he didn't seem like it bothered him.

"You deserved that." I tell him as he rubs his arm a bit. "Seriously though guys, there's plenty of stuff in the cabinets."

"Then how come you always made me wait?" Kain whines out.

"I never did that, what I did was kick you out of the kitchen because you kept picking at whatever it was I was making." Kyra snickers beside her brother as he grins, rubbing the back of his head.

"I'm guessing you don't want my help this time then?"

"No, you can help me. IF, you keep your fingers out of everything." I tell him and turn back to the counter.

"Can I help?" Kyra asks.

"Of course." I tell her over my shoulder.

The kitchen goes quiet as everyone gets something to eat for their breakfast, Kain finishes his cereal quickly and next thing I know he's standing beside me waiting for his orders once he finished washing his hands.

"Alright oh great chef, what shall I do first?" He mock bows to me and I shake my head at him.

"You can start by washing the green beans and getting them ready for the casserole." I tell him, nodding to the clear plastic bags full of green beans.

"Alrighty." He smiles, going around to my left to do what I had told him.

The kitchen falls quiet again as I finish the first pie I had been working on before they came in, Kain still busy washing the beans and placing them in a pot to cook.

"What can I do?" Kyra comes up beside me and I smile to her, I'm rather glad she's trying to open up with me and more than pleased that she likes cooking just as much as I do.

"Do you know how to make rolls?"

"Um… No."

"It's alright, I'll show you." I grab the ingredients from the back of the counter, taking it over to the bar where she had been sitting at since there's more space to work there.

As I explained it to her she listened to me like she was hanging onto every word I said, watching me intently as I made two rolls and placed them on the baking sheet.

"Okay, now you try." I stepped back and let her take my spot, I knew I was smiling like an idiot the entire time she worked the dough under her hands.

"That one looks good, just keep doing that till you run out of what I gave you." I tell her, and she nods as she places her roll on the baking sheet next to mine.

"I'll be right back, you two gonna be alright without me?" I ask, already heading out of the kitchen.

"Yeah we'll be fine dad." Kain answers, setting his pot of green beans on the stove.

I nod as I go to Gabe's room to finish wrapping the presents I bought, I close the door behind me and lock it, so I don't have to worry about Kain barging in. He has never stepped foot in Gabe's room before, but I can never be too careful these days since I never know what goes on inside that head of his.

I had just finished wrapping Kai's present and setting it aside when a knock came at the door, I tossed the quilt over the others to hide them before answering. I would say I was surprised to see Kai standing there, but to be honest I wasn't.

"Everything alright?" I ask, stepping out of the room and closing the door behind me.

"Just needed to know when you wanted me to bring it in."

"Oh, I almost forgot about it. Um… Shit, I don't know." I sighed. "I guess we'll have to do presents now then. Let me wrap what I have and then I'll meet you in the living room with the others." He nodded and headed for the stairs, while I slipped back into Gabe's room.

* * *

 **Kyra's POV**

Kain and I had just finished the dinner tasks that Ray had assigned us before we were all called to sit around the Christmas tree. Kain pretty much almost knocked me over when he ran by, something I would've clocked him for if I were even close to being as fast as he is. I came in to see Tala and Bryan sitting on the couch facing the TV while Dimitri was sitting on the floor a short distance away from his fathers. Kain on the other hand was sitting close to the Christmas tree, inspecting the things under it. So far it was only gifts from Dimitri, Kain and I, as well as gifts from Bryan and Tala. As I took a spot close to Dimitri, Dad and Ray came in carrying a multitude of different sized wrapped presents, placing them under the tree while Ray swatted Kain away.

"So, I'm unsure how you all do Christmas but Kain and I normally take turns opening gifts, especially since we usually celebrate with Max and his kids." Ray explained.

"We pretty much do the same. We usually have Christmas at our place, the five of us get together and open presents there. We just have the youngest go first and go up from there though. Usually that's Dimitri but I guess this year would be Kain." I responded.

"But oldest is still Papa." Dimitri grinned, receiving a glare in response from Tala.

"Why must you continue to rub that in every year?" He groaned.

"Payback for the other 364 days a year you embarrass me." Dimitri stated.

"Okay enough of this banter. I'm handing out gifts!" Kain yelled, getting close to the tree to start sorting gifts.

Kain took no time in starting to unwrap his gifts. "This one's from Dimitri and Kyra!" He enthused, picking up a red envelope. He opened it, looking inside to then look at the two of us with his eyes wide. "Tickets to T.M Revolution? Are these real?"

I rolled my eyes. "Do you really think we're that rude to give you fake tickets? Of course they're real! It's in March so we will be in Russia but we've already planned it so Dimitri and I can come back to go with you. There's also an extra ticket in there if you want to bring someone along."

"That's such a nice gift. What do you say, Kain?" Ray smiled at the two of us.

"Thank you!" He exclaimed, coming and giving me a tight hug. He went beside and embraced Dimitri, much to his dismay. "Thanks Dimi!"

"You could show your thanks by not hugging me." Dimitri muttered, showing his distaste for his nickname on his face.

"Noted. You're next. Open Kyra's and mine!" Kain encouraged, taking back his spot with his gifts in front of the TV.

Dimitri looked at me, going and picking up the gift from Kain and I, wrapped in icy blue packaging after I had given him a nod. He unwrapped the paper to reveal a new set of water colour paints as well as a hard-covered sketch pad, smiling in response.

"This is awesome."

I gave him a soft smile back. "Figured you'd need something to do when we're not training and I haven't seen you draw or paint in a while."

Tala came behind him to investigate. "This is so sweet. Ray, Kai, you have raised such thoughtful children."

I looked up to see our fathers look at each other with wide eyes, only to have Ray nod with a smile.

"May have not been together, but we both did a good job." Ray agreed, to which Dad nodded back with a small smile. "Kyra, your turn."

I nodded, looking through my small pile and picking out the one from Kain as he gave me a giant grin. "Should I be scared of what's in here?"

"You'll love it. Just open it."

I wrinkled my nose, tearing into the small package to find a black t-shirt. I unfolded it to see "#1 Big Sister" written on the front. "Why did you do this?" I groaned.

"Uh cause it's true? Gotta celebrate finding out we're siblings somehow! Plus you can wear that to the concert!" He grinned.

"I will never wear this out of the house." I said, blank faced.

"Buzzkill. Look what fell on the carpet though." He sighed.

I looked down to see the newest Pvris CD, letting myself smile a bit. He must have found out who I listened to from Dimitri or Dad. "Now this is cool. Thanks."

To which he gave me a nod with his fang popped out in a smile. "Don't mention it."

We had gone around, everyone seeming to enjoy the gifts they had gotten so far. Ray had seemed quite happy with the tea set we had gotten him, while Dad had let out a soft smile at the sweater from me and the scarf from Kain. Dimitri, with Kai's help, had ended up getting Tala and Bryan a fancy bottle of Japanese Sake which the two seemed interested in. Kain had opened his gift from Dad to reveal a custom Driger blade, made to look similar to my custom Dranzer he had gotten me the Christmas before. He grinned ear to ear, switching his Driger bit into the new blade and holding it side by side with my blade to compare. We landed back on me, picking up a large wrapped gift that was flat and square.

"That's from me." Dimitri said softly, watching as I carefully ripped the package to reveal a medium sized canvas with a black and white self portrait of me on it. In it I was smiling a genuine smile, not looking forward but looking as if I was looking over at someone.

"This is beautiful." I said in awe, holding it up to show Dad.

Dad looked over with his brows raised. "This is good work, Dimitri."

He blushed softly, not sure how to react to the compliments. "That's why you haven't seen me drawing or anything lately. I was working on that since October and had to hide it when you were around, which is a lot."

I put the canvas down gently, reaching over to hug him. "This is amazing. Thank you so much."

The click of a camera went off, causing both of us to look over to see Tala taking a picture. "This is one for the scrapbook!"

"Papa…" Dimitri groaned, moving away from me. Dammit Uncle Tala, why do you have to ruin perfectly good moments?

Ray picked up a small gift, his brows raising when he saw who it was from. He looked over at Dad, holding it up. "You got me a gift?"

Dad nodded, gesturing over to Tala and I. "The two of them helped with it so I guess it's from the three of us."

I smiled as he opened up the photo album Dad and I had put together in the past few days. It consisted of photos from the past fourteen years, all taken by either Dad, Tala or me.

"Is this?" Ray questioned, his mouth hanging open.

"Pictures of Kyra growing up. She thought of it and I thought it was a good idea since you missed a lot because of my decision." Dad said softly. I had to admit, I was surprised he actually went for it. Maybe I was right about him still loving Ray.

He put it aside, getting up to go into another room and coming back with a small gift. "I didn't know if we were exchanging but I'd gotten this for you just in case."

Dad opened it, holding up a rectangular black bottle that looked rather fancy. I think I had seen it in his bathroom the few times I had been in there, but that had been a few years ago.

"What's that?" Kain asked, scooting closer to look.

"Cologne I used to wear. Can't believe you remember that." Dad smirked.

I looked over at Kain to see him raising his eyebrows suggestively. Seemed we were thinking the same thing. Why would Ray have gotten this for him if there weren't still feelings there? That is not the type of gift you get for an ex, even if you're on good terms and have children together.

The room was quiet for a few moments, both of our fathers looking over their gifts only for the rest of us to sit in waiting.

"Kyra, why don't you go ahead since you still have two there?" Tala suggested.

I nodded, about to go for a medium sized rectangular box before I heard Ray speak up.

"That one is from me but it might be one that would be better for you to open on your own." He suggested.

I raised a brow in confusion. "O-okay…I guess it's onto yours then Dad." I picked up a tiny box wrapped in silver paper with a small purple bow on top. I carefully unwrapped it to see a cream-colored box, opening the lid to reveal a silver heart locket with a phoenix outline engraved on it. I opened the locket, it containing a picture of what looked to be Dad, Ray and I with most likely Kain as a baby on the left-hand side and an empty compartment on the right.

"That picture was taken a few months after Kain was born. I figured we could take a new one together before we leave so you could put it on the other side." Dad explained.

I looked down to view the photo again, noticing the happiness all of us expressed. Ray's smile was so big and bright while Dad's eyes were locked on Ray with a soft smile. Two-year-old me was sat in Dad's lap, grinning while Kain was nestled into Ray's arms and looked to be sleeping. It was hard to see us all look so happy and not wonder what things would've been like if the two of them had just worked things out and stayed together.

Kain came over and peered over my shoulder to see the photo. "Wow Dad, you look really happy in this photo."

"Why wouldn't I have been? Having the two of you was probably one of the best things to happen to me. May not have had the outcome I expected, but that's still something I stand by." He stated.

"Nah, I think something else is making you happy in this picture. Or maybe a someone?" Kain grinned slyly.

Ray blushed, getting up and turning again. "Gifts aren't finished just yet!" He left the room again, quicker than last time, most likely to escape Kain's teasing.

Kain started to laugh, being interrupted by the sound of soft meowing. "What's that?"

His jaw dropped when Ray came back in with a small black and white kitten curled up against his chest.

"Merry Christmas, son." Ray grinned, crouching down to hand the kitten to Kain.

"You got me a cat?!" Kain exclaimed, a huge grin spreading across his face.

"I figured with everything that's happened in the past few months I owe you. Plus you've been asking for so many years for a pet. Just promise me you're going to take care of it." Ray said sternly.

Kain held the kitten to his chest, looking down in pure awe at it. "Of course."

Dimitri and I huddled around Kain, all of us watching the sleeping kitten as Ray smiled at his handy work.

"Well I think this makes it the best Christmas we've had so far." He declared.

* * *

 **Kai's POV**

"Dad? What is going on with your outfit and why do you have these damn blue triangles on your face in every picture?" I heard Kyra question from the kitchen table.

With encouragement from my Christmas present to him, Ray had decided to dig out some old photo albums from our 'glory days' back with the Bladebreakers for Kyra and Kain to see, a decision I was starting to regret as my children's comments came rolling out.

"Honestly. Like who thinks 'You know what my face needs? Blue triangles.'" Kain laughed.

"It was a fashion choice." I muttered as I worked on my laptop. Tala and I had decided to move our analyzing of Ray's papers to the kitchen while Bryan had gone to take advantage of the gym once again and Dimitri had gone to his and his parents shared room to use his new art set. This left Ray cooking dinner while the two kids looked through the photos.

"A weird one. Have to admit, you look pretty cool though. You too Dad!" Kain called over.

"Well at least I got one compliment." Ray chuckled as he took the ham out of the oven.

I had to admit, after it being years of just Kyra and I joining in with Tala and Bryan's family Christmas, it was nice to be celebrating it with my own family. Well, broken up family, but still both of my children. Seeing both of my children laughing and getting along made me realize what was really missing all of these years I had isolated us. Not only had I declined Ray of the opportunity to see Kyra grow, I denied myself the opportunity to really get to know my son, as well as Kyra the knowledge of what a real family was like. For so long we had acted like Tala, Bryan, Spencer, Dimitri and Sven were our family and although they were, we really were missing something without Ray and Kain being in it. I was missing something without the two of them being in it.

I couldn't help but smile thinking of the gifts the three of them gave me. Kyra, I knew would get me something that suited me well but also met a demand of hers. She always complained I dressed too formal, even when not at work, so a simple zip up black sweater was the perfect compromise. I was surprised that Kain had given me something that could be taken so personally though. The two of us hadn't seen eye to eye as well throughout this visit, but it was because his personality was so much like my own. Kyra got Ray's patience and understanding while Kain got my hot-headedness and impulsive emotionally driven choices. I didn't even want to know how much we would have butt heads if we were to have been in the same household all of these years. But the scarf was something that melded my teenage self and my adult self well.

Ray's gift had me the most confused. The cologne I had worn the entire time we were together. It was only a few years ago I had finally stopped wearing it since it reminded me too much of him since he loved it so much. Did he give that to me just for old time's sake or did it mean something more? It was getting more and more difficult to ignore the still present feelings for him when this trip was putting up more and more obstacles to ignore.

"Dad?" Kyra's voice snapped me out of my deep thought. "Ray said that dinner is almost finished if you wanted to help Kain and I set the table?"

I nodded, dismissing my thoughts. I couldn't let these feelings sway my choices. Ray was getting married and I was going back to Russia after this. We were being friendly for our kids and that was it.

We had only been eating for ten minutes when the sharp chime of a phone went off.

"Kain, what did I say about phones at the table?" Ray sighed, narrowing his eyes at our son.

"I know, sorry. I'll shut it-wait, it's Matt! Can I be excused? Thanks!" He said quickly, running out towards the balcony.

Ray shook his head. "If it wasn't for it being Matt I would've stopped that boy."

First Kyra's meaningful gift from Dimitri, then Kain getting a phone call from Matt. Maybe it was both of our children's lucky day with their crushes.

* * *

 **Kain's POV**

I couldn't help the stupid smile on my face when I placed the phone to my ear, trying to still my racing heart.

"Hey." He breathed out, he didn't sound all that happy to be calling me. What's that about, he called me?

"Hi." I said, making sure I sounded a bit cheerier than he did.

"Just wanted to say Merry Christmas." "MERRY CHRISTMAS KAIN!" Stella and Max called in through the background, at least they sounded to be in the holiday spirit.

"Merry Christmas guys." I told them back, and then it went silent for a moment. In the background I could hear Max muttering something and Stella joining him, was Matt forced to call me?

"How is everything there? Your plan blow up in your face yet?" He continued, sounding bored.

"Not yet no, Gabe isn't home right now so it's been a good Christmas. I got a kitten, he's so adorable." I beamed, hey if he wasn't going to strike up the conversation the least I could do was try and keep it going.

He slightly chuckled. "That's what you need, a defenseless being to take care of."

I stuck my lip out a bit, even if he couldn't see it. "Hey, I'd make a good father someday. This is just practice for when I have kids, oh by the way." I paused a bit, how do I tell him that it's possible I could give birth?

"What's up?" Now he sounded like himself, so I relaxed a bit and leaned against the railing of the porch.

"Um, well you know how at camp I was really moody?"

"Yeah, I remember." He said, and I chewed on my lip for a bit.

"Well… You see the reason I was like that." I didn't even finish my sentence as a loud girlish scream reached my ear drums, what the hell was that?! "Hey, I gotta go someone's dying or something, I'll call you back." I rushed through my words, hanging up before he could respond and ran back into the house.

"W-What is that?! Why is it here?!" Gabe shouted out from the foyer, already the others in the kitchen were coming out.

"It's a cat…" Kai said rather dryly, rolling his eyes.

"I can see that, but what is it doing here?" Gabe asked, backing into the corner of the foyer pointing at the kitten.

"It's mine." I said, narrowing my eyes at him and plucking the kitten from the floor where he was just standing. "He's my Christmas present from dad." I said, almost growling in the back of my throat.

Already I could smell him, and it wasn't the nasty cologne or even dad that was overwhelming my senses. I held the kitten to my chest a bit tighter as dad stepped up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Even standing that close he wasn't going to be able to smell it, but I could and that was aggravating me more.

"I talked to you about this the other day, I told you I was getting him a kitten." Dad started, his voice calm as he spoke.

"No, no I don't remember that. Ray, I'm sorry it can't stay here." Gabe said, and my entire body tensed.

"You're being ridiculous Gabe, I did ask you about it and you said it was fine. I'm not taking away his Christmas present." Dad removed his hand from Gabe's shoulder, crossing his arms over his chest.

I breathed a sigh of relief, for a moment I was afraid dad would have sided with Gabe on taking my kitten away. By now Tala had ushered his family and Kyra out, leaving me with my fathers and Gabe in the foyer. Kai moved over to stand by me, what he was planning on doing I have no clue, but I was glad all the same.

"What's the matter with him having the kitten?" Dad asked, looking like he was getting aggravated.

"Ray… I… I'm afraid of cats. It can't stay." Gabe whispered in dad's ear, as he eyed the kitten in my hands. Dad looked between me and Gabe for a second, and he closed his eyes as if he was thinking it over.

I tensed again, slitting my pupils and barring my fangs with a hiss. "I'm a fucking cat you idiot! And so is dad and Kyra, or did you fucking forget! You're not taking my cat!" I growled, and Gabe jumped back a good two inches back into the wall.

"Kain, that's enough!" Dad scorned, turning to me for a minute with his own pupils slit and fangs bared. By the time he turned back to Gabe he had calmed down. "He's keeping it, he's right we're part cat. It'll stay in his room, you won't even know it's here."

Gabe looked to be at a loss for words, while I kept my glare on him the entire time. Finally, he let out a sigh and shook his head slightly, running a hand through his bangs.

"Alright, I'm sorry." He mumbled. "As long as it stays upstairs I don't mind, just please don't let it around me." Now it was dad's turn to look at me, his eyes almost pleading with me to obey Gabe's request.

"Fine." I bit out. "I have to call Matt back." I didn't bother to wait for their response, for some reason Kai decided to follow me out onto the porch.

"Here." He held his arms out and I placed the kitten in them, while he stood beside me.

"I'm glad you came out with me, there's something you need to know." I told him, and he nodded to let me know he was listening. "Gabe's cheating on dad." Even saying that made me tense up again, and I watched Kai do the same.

"How can you be sure?" His voice was cold, sounding more pissed off than I would have thought him to be.

"He smells different, Kyra smelt it the night I was coming off my heat. I never stick around Gabe much, for reasons like you just saw, but when he came back I could smell it. It wasn't dad's scent on him, and it wasn't one I recognized."

"Are you sure, if you're wrong about what you're smelling." I held a hand up to stop him.

"My sense of smell is _never_ wrong, dad can't smell it since I broke his nose when I punched him. Not with all that cologne Gabe wears, but I can smell past it. It smelt like sex, not just if he had been around someone else." I explained, and he looked to be mulling it over for a minute, shifting the kitten in his arms.

"Then we should tell Ray." He said with a slight scowl.

"He won't believe me, he'll think it's just me making things up because I don't like Gabe. If you say it, I don't think he'll believe you either. He might believe Kyra, but then again he may not." I mumbled, it was going to be a bit difficult in convincing dad about Gabe now.

"Why wouldn't he believe me or Kyra?"

"You honestly think he'll believe his ex convicting his new lover of cheating?" I rolled my eyes at him and he simply nodded. "With Kyra, he knows her senses are coming in and he may wave it off as nothing and she's not sure what it is she's smelling since it's all new to her."

"What do we do then?"

"Find evidence, somehow. You're still looking at the paper work for the restaurant, right?" He nodded to me, and I thought over our options for a second. "I can help you."

He rose an eyebrow at me. "How?"

"Simple, I can dig up more dirt on Gabe. I know you said you didn't think it was him, but I do. You and Tala can keep looking in the direction you are, and I'll look at Gabe. By the end of it all, one of us will find an answer." I explained, and he looked rather impressed at me for a second, bout time we started this whole father and son bonding thing.

"I won't stop you from looking into Gabe, but if that's what we're doing now we need to find everything out before the wedding."

"I agree, that shit aint happening on my watch." He slightly chuckled, rolling his eyes.

"Watch your mouth."

"Whatever old man, I have to call Matt back." I rolled my eyes at him, smirking and he gave me his own.

"Good luck with that." He said as he walked away, still carrying my kitten to his chest since it had fallen asleep within his arms. "I'll keep him with me for now." I nodded to him, letting him leave me outside so I could call Matt.

"So, who died?" Matt laughed, after having answered my call. To say I was relieved he actually answered my call would be an understatement, already my anger from finding everything out was leaving me.

"Sadly no one, it was just Gabe screaming. Apparently, the baby is afraid of cats." I snorted, and he went into a full-blown laughing fit.

"You're kidding me? Does he not realize what you are?" He asked, between his fit.

"Not until recently, I don't think he really had an idea. Could be wrong though." I shrugged, smiling like a dumbass. I had missed that laugh, I missed everything about him.

"Must explain why you never liked him, to be honest I never did either."

"Must be." I chuckled, shaking my head slightly.

"What'd you want to tell me, before princess interrupted?" I had to bite back my laugh from his insult of Gabe, slipping a cigarette between my lips to help calm my nerves.

How was I going to tell him, in all honesty would I really need to even tell him? It wasn't like we were together right now, and it didn't seem we would be getting back together any way now, not after what I had done.

"Um, well I guess I was just moody because of what happened before we left. I wanted to let you know that I'm sorry, really sorry." I changed my plans, there was no reason to tell him.

It got quiet for a moment, and I prayed that he wouldn't clam up on me or bite my head off for bringing that up again.

"I know you are Kain… Just, give me some more time, alright?" He breathed out, and it broke my heart to hear him like that.

"Alright… I just… I'm sorry…" I breathed out a cloud of smoke, this was doing nothing to still my nerves now. "Um, I wanted to ask you something."

"Okay."

"Kyra got me some tickets for a concert coming up in March, would you wanna go with me?" It was like my heart had stopped beating when I asked him, waiting for his answer seemed to take longer than I was hoping until he finally spoke up.

"What band?" After his words reached my ears I smiled again, like the dumbass I am.

"T.M Revolution, apparently dad helped her figure out what band I liked." I said, still smiling like a dumbass.

"Sure, I'll go with you." I had to stop myself from dancing in place and squealing like a school girl.

"Thanks man, I should head back in."

"Alright Kain, I'll talk to you later. Merry Christmas." He said back, sounding like himself and it warmed my heart, even if that sounds corny as hell.

"Merry Christmas Matt." With that I hung up, placing my phone back into my back pocket.

At least I was getting somewhere now with him, even if it was just a small step in the right direction. On top of that problem being slightly solved, I had another one on my hands, Gabe.


	19. Chapter 19

**Ray's POV**

I couldn't hold in my excitement when I pulled the car into the parking lot of the restaurant, accidentally slamming my door when I got out. Kai just shook his head at me, a smile on his lips as he got out of the passenger seat.

"Don't look at me like that." I warned, my tone more playful than I was anticipating it to be.

"You're acting like a five-year-old in a candy store." He shook his head at me.

I punched him in the arm, not hard but enough to knock him slightly off balance. "Ass. Can't I be happy about this?" I asked him as I led him to the front doors, pulling out the keys to unlock them and let us in.

"I didn't say you couldn't." He said walking by me as I held the door open for him, he let out a whistle as he looked around.

"Obviously it's not done yet, we still have to bring in everything." I told him, closing the door behind me and stepping into the front portion of the building.

He looked around a bit, nodding as he went. "It's big."

"It can seat roughly 250 patrons." I told him as I led him through the front portion, indicating where I'd be placing tables and benches.

"A bar?" He looked at me with a raised brow as we came up to said bar.

I nodded, laying my hands on the smooth wooden surface. It was your typical restaurant styled bar, stuck near the back of the building where the kitchen sat behind it through two sets of steel doors.

"Can't have a good eatery without one." I told him. "I'm going to import the finest spirits around, won't be cheap either." He chuckled at my words, once again shaking that beautiful head of his.

"The bar can sit roughly forty patrons; the women have little hooks for their bags right by their legs." I pointed out the hooks under the top of the bar.

"Thought of everything then, haven't you?"

"Of course I did, this is my baby after all." I told him, waving him to follow me to the kitchen.

Once again, like he had been back at the house whenever he'd follow me around, he was right on my heel. I held the doors open for him again, just so I could put some space between us. He stepped in and I started towards some of the cooking stations that had been placed in about a week ago.

"Nothings hooked up yet, but at least we got it semi-finished now."

"Looks good." He said as he came to stand beside me, looking over the kitchen again and then our eyes met, and it was like he trapped mine with his. "I'm proud of you."

I could feel my heart racing in my chest, having to fight my own arms not to reach out and touch him. I had to remind myself of the engagement ring on my finger, that he had put me through hell and back after leaving the way he did. Nothing was working though, my feet moved of their own accord and I stepped closer to him as our eyes stayed locked on the others. I swallowed the lump that had found it's way into my throat, my right hand came up, but I was able to hold it back from touching him.

"Thank you." I told him, placing my hand on his shoulder instead of touching that gorgeous face of his like it had been itching to.

"You're welcome." His voice sent shivers of excitement through my entire body and I physically shook, he smirked at me like he knew what kind of power he still held over me.

"Kai…"

"Ray."

My feet inched closer, our chests brushing against each other's, and I tried not to shake again but it was hopeless. He had caught me again, and even though in my head I knew I shouldn't have, I leaned up and captured his lips with my own. The hand I had left on his shoulder wound up to cup his cheek and his own arms came around my waist and pulled me closer to him as he deepened the kiss. I purred in the back of my throat, I never purred for Gabe.

Kai moved forward, pushing me back into one of the counters we were standing by until my backside hit it, pinning me between the counter and his body. Our lips still locked, and I felt my body instantly heat from his touch, his hands finding their way under the back of my jacket and shirt. With his fingers touching my bare back I purred louder, all thoughts I had before washed away from my mind as his tongue licked my lower lip and I parted them for him.

Like always, as if we had never left the other for fourteen years, he knew what to do and where to lick and touch me. My legs were already becoming weak and it was like he knew as he hoisted me onto the counter top, making sure to keep kissing me senseless as he stood between my legs. My right hand traveled around to the back of his head, twining my fingers with the back of his hair as I pulled him closer to me. I pulled my left hand between us and started pushing it past his own jacket and shirt, his stomach tensed under my touch and he breathed a bit heavier into our kiss.

He shifted again, this time laying me down onto the counter as his hands roamed around my sides under my shirt. I couldn't stop the way my body lifted and twitched to meet his touch, and I pulled him closer to me till our entire bodies seemed to meld together. I felt like I was on fire when he broke the kiss, only to start trailing down the side of my face and jawline to my neck.

He sat back, leaving my breathless from just kissing and touching me and I couldn't help but blush. He must think me so easy, or such a whore when I'm engaged of all things. The way he was looking at me though quenched those fears of his hidden thoughts, that smirk on his lips sent another shiver down my spine as his eyes danced over my body.

I just laid there, waiting for him to continue and I shifted a bit to get his attention back. His eyes shifted back to mine and he smiled, that beautiful genuine smile before he leaned back over and kissed me again. I could feel him undoing the zipper to my jacket and my body started to get more excited, I lifted my hips against him and he chuckled between the kiss.

Just as the zipper to my jacket was undone my ears perked, all the heat I had been feeling within me vanished like the snap of a finger. I thought we'd have enough time to pull away from each other, recompose ourselves, but I was wrong. Kai pulled back only when he heard Gabe clear his throat, his pale green eyes burning with an anger I have never seen before. Before I could even sit up properly from the counter it vanished from under me, and I fell screaming into a black void.

"Ray? Ray are you alright?" Gabe asks, breaking me out of my scared panting.

It was a dream? I nodded, looking over at him as I tried to catch my breath. The clock behind him only read two in the morning, and I sighed out a breath of relief. It was just a dream, though a really nice one and one that had now caused me to become painfully aware of another problem.

"I'm going to take a shower." I told him, throwing the covers off me and heading to the bathroom before he caught sight of my problem.

"Okay…" He mumbled out sleepily, and before the bathroom door closed behind me I could tell he had already passed out.

The cold water helped my heated skin, but it did nothing to help my confused thoughts. I wasn't planning on becoming closer to Kai than necessary for our children, beyond that I didn't want to get back with him. I couldn't, not after all these years to just run back into his arms like nothing happened. I know I told him I accepted his apology, but I was still sore from losing all that time with Kyra. Kain is getting along with him, and that's all I need, even if Kain and Gabe fight till he moves out I can't just abandon what I have with Gabe for Kai.

After the shower I wasn't ready to go back to sleep, so taking my coat with me I stepped outside on the patio. I don't indulge in smoking like the others do, only when I really need it, and it did keep me slightly warmed since it had been snowing the past two days. I didn't bother to blow dry my hair, so I kept my hood over my head and leaned against the railing blowing out a cloud of smoke.

"When'd you start smoking?" I almost jumped out of my skin when I heard his voice reach my ears, and it wasn't the voice I wanted to hear at this moment either.

"It's not a habit, only when I need it." I told him, only glancing at him as he came over and stepped up beside me, he was wearing the new scarf Kain had gotten him. I moved away from him, trying not to be too obvious in my movement.

"Why are you up?"

"Going over the last few papers you gave me, you?" He asked as he blew out his own smoke cloud.

I shook my head a bit. "Just couldn't sleep." There was no way I was going to tell him anymore than that, not when he was the problem I couldn't sleep to begin with.

"Find anything?" I asked, it had been almost a week since I had given him those papers and I still hadn't gotten an answer from either him or Tala.

"Nothing solid yet."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked him as I turned to look at him.

"Someone is stealing from you, I don't know who yet but we're looking into it." He told me as if he was telling me the weather, my jaw dropped, and anger swelled in my gut.

"How long have you known!?"

He shrugged his shoulders, taking a hit off his cigarette. "The day you gave them to me."

"And you didn't think of telling me this sooner?" Maybe it was a good thing I was getting angry at him; all those visions of my dream were slowly vanishing.

"I'm telling you now, aren't I? Look, we've been busy doing other things and dealing with our hormonal teenagers since we got here. I was waiting to tell you when I had the chance, yesterday it was hard to do because it was Christmas and all."

I could only nod, he was right. With all the drama that our son had caused the second day they were here, then shopping and Christmas yesterday I can understand why he waited.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you." I told him rather meekly, feeling like an idiot as I finished my cigarette. "How long do you think it'll take you to find out whose doing it?"

"Don't know yet, but I won't stop until I find out." His voice turned dark as he spoke and I only nodded, it was like he was sharing my frustrations and that was nice to have.

"Tomorrow we should take the kids with us, I'd like Kyra to see the place." He nodded, blowing out a cloud of smoke. "Also… Gabe and I decided to move up the date for the wedding." I could hardly hear myself saying those words and it looked like his back stiffened when the words caught his ears.

"How soon?"

"January fifth. We're going to look at a place this weekend, could Kyra come with us, if she comes Kain might behave himself."

"Up to her." He shrugged, flicking his cigarette over the railing into the batch of fresh snow.

"Why doesn't Kain like him?" His words caused me to jump again, I hadn't excepted him to keep talking once he was done with his smoke.

"Don't know, he was fine with him being his doctor and all. Gabe's never done anything to really warrant Kain to be the way he has, so I don't know." I shrugged my shoulders a bit, it was the truth because I truly didn't know.

"What do you think of him?" He cocked an eyebrow at me. "I'm only asking because everyone seems to hate him, I don't know why but they do. Nobody has really told me why, nor has Gabe ever given anyone reason to." I shrugged my shoulders again. "The only thing I've gotten from Max was him saying I changed for Gabe, but I don't see it as that."

"Your hair?"

"He didn't like it long, so yeah I cut it. But that doesn't mean I changed, I'm still me. It's just hair after all. Yes, he told me to turn my phone off that first month of camp, but it was a vacation." I told him, and speaking to him about it more I was slowly starting to lose my conviction about it all myself. I really did do a lot of things Gabe wanted without a second thought or protest, maybe this is what Max and Kain were talking about.

"I can't really give my opinion on the guy, I don't know him like the others do." He said rather casually. "But, I can't say he's all that bright having let us stay here without knowing us all that well. I can understand if he was just caught up in the moment of us coming unannounced and all, but I'm surprised he hasn't told us to leave yet."

My heart dropped at the prospect of them leaving. "Do you want to?" I asked rather quickly.

He shook his head. "No, not when you and Kyra are getting closer. I can't take that away from her or you, nor do I want to leave because I'm getting to know Kain at the same time." My heart sped up from his words, if I hadn't had the kind of dream I did I would have probably hugged him.

"Thank you… That, that means a lot to me." I said, coming to stand beside him a bit more against the railing of the patio. His natural heat was soothing, and I held myself to keep warmer while we fell into a peaceful silence.

"You were right." He breathed out and I glanced over to look at him, he was still staring out at the lake behind the house. "Kain is a bit more like me than I thought he was, not an exact replica but he's got some of my traits in him that I can see."

I smiled at him, and he shifted his eyes to look at me and smirked. "I told you." I said rather proudly. "He's got your brains too, looks like both kids did, thank god." I sighed out with a chuckle. "What makes you say that though?"

"Him and Matt, the way he can turn off the world around him like it doesn't bother him even if it does." He shrugged, and I smiled a bit more. He had actually been paying attention to his son for once, and I was happy for that.

"They'll work it out, they always have." I waved off his words. "It's not been easy with them two, but I can't expect anything different since they're both boys and have been living under the same roof all their lives. I just wish he hadn't done what he did, it was a bit of a shock to me since Matt was the one who was the major flirt." I told him, becoming lost in the moment of just talking to him like an old friend again.

"Kyra and Dimitri have had their falling outs as well, but they always seemed to come back in the end. I think having him around her growing up helped her a lot, if I couldn't be there Tala and Dimitri were."

"I'll be honest with you, that hurts a bit." He gave me an apologetic look, and I held a hand up to stop him from talking as his mouth started to open. "To know another man raised my daughter, but if it was anyone else I'm glad it was Tala." He closed his mouth and nodded like he agreed with me.

"I'm sorry."

"You've already apologized, I told you I accepted it and I meant it. I missed a lot, and whether that's my fault or yours, it's in the past now and I just need to make sure I'm in the picture for the rest of her life."

"Still doesn't make what I did right." He protested, and I sighed.

"No, you're right it doesn't but what else can we do? I am glad you came, that you decided to stay even if you're not comfortable being here. I can understand why you're not, and I don't blame you for that. Another month and you'll be able to go home and be comfortable again, just promise me you'll try to keep in touch with Kain." It felt like my heart was shattering when I had spoken to him, in one short month he and Kyra would up and leave me again and it hurt just like it had all those years ago.

"Of course." He nodded, and I gave him a smile, albeit a weak and pitiful one. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head, trying to keep myself from crying. "Nothing, I'm fine. Probably just starting my heat, since Kain came off of his. You know how I get when it starts." I lied, but he seemed to take my excuse anyways.

"We had better days when you weren't on it." He chuckled, and I followed suit.

"You think? Kain's right, makes you feel like a girl with all the emotions you get from it. But being pregnant was far worse, remember all those mood swings I had when I was pregnant with Kyra?" I laughed out and his smile widened.

"You cried once, because you tried making coffee for me, but you were so tired that morning you didn't switch the filter."

"I remember that, your face when you drank it was priceless though. I thought you were gonna kill me that morning, then that night I couldn't even make dinner for us." I laughed out.

"I think we ordered take out, and then that night you went into labor."

"I did, didn't I? Your face when you saw her for the first time, I thought you were going to cry."

He shrugged his shoulders as if he was trying to play it off, but I know he had a tear or two in his eyes when he held her.

"She was perfect." He breathed out.

"She still is." He nodded again. "I wish you had been there when Kain was born." I breathed out and he frowned.

"I tried to be, I'm sorry I couldn't have been."

"It's alright, I didn't mean anything by it. I had Max and Tyson there, Tyson watched Kyra for me while Max was in the operating room. Now, he _did_ cry when he held Kain and it was pretty funny. He was the same way when he held the twins for the first time too."

"Have you and Max?" He rose an eyebrow at me and it took me a minute to register what he was implying.

"NO! He's as straight as a nail, and that would have been way too awkward. No, after you it was just Kain and me and my focus was on him. Gabe is the only other one I've been with since you… What… What about you, do you have someone back home?" I held my breath as I waited for his answer, maybe I shouldn't have asked.

"No, nothing ever solid. Kyra isn't happy about it, I tried to hide it from her, but she found out anyways."

"How come?" Maybe I shouldn't ask that, but the question slipped before I could stop it.

He frowned again but looked to be thinking over his answer. "Just never found the right one I guess." He shrugged, sounding bored with the conversation now.

"I'm sorry." I don't know why that slipped out either, but it was too late to stop it.

"Don't be, it's not your fault." He shook his head, and even though he said it didn't mean it wasn't true. It was my fault, it was my fault leaving him and why he took Kyra. He had a hand to play in it all as well, but in the end, I was the one that called it quits and didn't set anything up with the courts to ensure I got to see her.

"I'm still sorry that you haven't found someone, but I can understand if you're unsure about bringing someone around Kyra and all. I was the same way at first, Gabe was just really persistent until I caved… I should head back in now, I'll see you in the morning Kai." I waved to him, all that talking was starting to wear me out again and I felt more comfortable going back to sleep now.

"Night." He breathed out as I slipped back through the doors.

I crawled back into the now cold bed, having left the covers open from my spot chilled the sheets and I slipped in without waking Gabe. I turned to look at him, _really_ look at him for once and I sighed out. In less than a month I'd be marrying this man, before I thought I'd be happy with that idea but now after this past week I'm not so sure anymore. Did I ever really love him to begin with, or had I just used him as a way to get over Kai all these years?

* * *

"Well, what do you want to do about it Ray?" Max asked me, I had to call him first thing in the morning.

I mulled over my options as I sat on the bed, already I could hear the kids waking upstairs as I was alone in Gabe's room since he was already at work. I breathed in heavily and let it out, though it did nothing to help my nerves.

"I don't know Max… I mean, I can't just up and leave Gabe in hopes that Kai would want to get back with me." Even saying that made me sound like some confused whore, god what is wrong with me?

"Sure you can leave him, the sooner the better in my opinion."

"MAX! That isn't helping, at all." I scorned, why did I consider him my best friend again? "I called because I need help here, not your one-sided opinion on Gabe."

"Okay, okay. Sorry. Look, I don't know man. I understand why you'd be scared to try anything with Kai after all these years, but has he even given you a hint that he might be interested again?"

"No, we've talked like friends and parents when it concerns our kids. That's about it, maybe I'm just confusing myself." I sighed out again, my shoulders coming forward. "It's like he's just trying to be friends, nothing more and I'm just reading him wrong."

"Well, it sounds like that's not a bad thing. You two need to work together for the kids, but if you don't want to marry Gabe then don't."

"But I do!" I whined out, I don't know if I was trying to convince him or myself at this point though.

"Then stop worrying about it and just get it over with, it's that simple." Max sighed out as well and I could just imagine him shaking his head at me. "I'll still be there, you know that." He added quickly, and I slightly smiled.

"What a life saver you are." I rolled my eyes. "Thanks though, I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You'd probably be in the loony bin by now if it wasn't for me." He laughed.

"More than likely." My smile grew, and I had to bite back a laugh.

"That's pretty funny though, Kai thinking you and I. Oh boy, that's rich." He laughed harder and I couldn't hold mine back anymore.

"He was so serious too when he asked me, god what an idiot." I shook my head.

"Should have said yes, just to see his reaction." He laughed again.

"If I did that he'd probably never talk to you again."

"Ah the good ol' days when he was the silent and brooding type, what ever did you see in that?" He joked, and I shook my head.

"A lot more than either of you guys did, that's for sure."

"RAY! I don't need to know!" He whined out and I fell over on the bed laughing hysterically. "You laughing at my expense isn't helping either, you know what I meant." He grumbled out.

"I know, but I couldn't help it. Forgive me." I laughed out, wiping the tears that came to the corner of my eyes. "I don't know, just whenever you guys weren't around I saw a different side of him and it was always nice to see him able to talk to me. Made me feel a little special to be honest, and of course him helping me get Driger back that one time was just… I don't know… I guess that's when I truly fell in love with him, and it just got better from there." I told him, remembering the times of our youth and I smiled again.

"Those were the good days, that's for sure." Max chuckled, but I could tell he wasn't all that excited to be reminiscing about our past, especially when it concerned the Saint Shields.

"She'd be proud of you, what you've given the twins and all."

"Thanks…" He mumbled out. "Speaking of the twins, I gotta go they just got home."

"Alright Max, thanks for talking with me. I better go make sure the kids aren't burning the place down." He laughed and hung up, I laid on the bed for a few more minutes before I pushed myself off and got dressed for the day.

When I emerged from the room I could smell pancakes and bacon cooking from the kitchen, already hearing the kid's conversation through the house.

"Morning dad." Kain called as he stood by the stove, the bacon hissing inside the grease as Kyra was busy mixing more pancake mix in a bowl.

"Morning guys, smells good." I complimented them as I went around to try one of my new teas they got me.

"Should try the sweet berry, that one was really good." Kyra said as I was looking through the box.

"Did you try them?" I asked.

"We sampled them before we got them." She answered with a nod.

"Okay, do you want me to make you a cup?" I asked as I pulled out two sweet berry packets from the box, placing it back into the cupboard.

"Sure." She smiled to me and I smiled back to her.

I maneuvered around them as they cooked, using my new tea set to boil the water on the back burner and placed the tea bags in the new cups. I was rather proud of them for thinking of this to get me, it was really sweet of them to do so.

"Here sweet heart." I placed the steaming cup on the counter beside her and she looked at me with raised brows, maybe I shouldn't have called her that. "Sorry." I apologized quickly and went around the counter to sit at the bar on the other end.

"No… It's alright. Thank you."

"Hey sis, pass me the spatula." Kain called over his shoulder.

I sat back, sipping my tea as I watched my children cook breakfast for us as the others came into the kitchen. As Kai came and sat beside me, Kain moved away from the stove to the coffee machine and started it up. Once it filled the mug that had been under it all this time he spun around and slid it over in front of Kai who took it with a nod of the head, I couldn't help but smile and a fang slipped out. Kain looked at me and he mimicked my smile, then turned his back to us again as he flipped the pancakes over.

"After we eat we're going to the restaurant." Kai broke the silence after Kain had made sure to pass Tala and Bryan their own cups of coffee to them, making his last.

"Cool." Kain said over his shoulder, plating the food. Kyra nodded, as she leaned against the sink watching her brother as he handed her the finished plates and she set them out before us.

"Thank you." I smiled to her, hoping that I hadn't put her off any.

"No problem." She smiled to me, taking her own plate and sitting at the table behind me with Dimitri and his fathers.

"Hey dad." Kain called to me as he stood across from me to eat.

"Yeah?" I paused to look up at him.

"Would it be alright if we stopped by the house on our way back? I have something for Matt and Stella."

"Sure, that's fine. We'll have to take separate cars anyways."

"Thanks." He mumbled as he looked back down at his plate, poking at his pancake a bit. "You smell like smoke by the way." He smirked at me before stuffing his mouth with a fork full of pancake.

I bristled at his words and Kai let out a snort beside me. "Um… Yeah… Well…. You do to." I bit back and Kain's smirk just grew.

"I know I do, where did you think I got mine from?" He laughed out and I shook my head.

"Stop stealing from me, I have enough people doing that to me."

He nodded but I don't think he really understood what I was saying as he finished his food, washing his plate off and then going upstairs without another word.

"That boy of yours is going to be the death of me." I mumbled out as I sipped my tea, and Kai just snorted again and shook his head.

"You and me both Ray." Tala said as he came around to wash his plate off. "Good cook though, you taught him well."

"Thanks, Kyra made the pancakes."

"And as always, they were amazing, thank you Kyra. As I was saying though, these boys here are going to be the death of us. I swear to you." I couldn't help but chuckle and nod with him.

"Papa, stop it." Dimitri whined from behind us.

"I'm excited to see this place of yours." Tala continued as if he didn't hear his son.

"Thanks, we'll go when everyone's ready."

It didn't take long for the others to finish their breakfast, Kain had already beaten everyone back down the stairs with his presents under his arms as we waited for the others to meet us in the foyer. Kyra and Dimitri came down together, and I couldn't help but smile at her again as she came down and she gave me her own smile before leaning against the wall with Kain. Tala and Bryan came down, arm in arm, and for once it struck me that out of everyone, those two had made it through everything together. In our youth I'd say they were the least two stable people in our lives, yet they had made it work out and looked rather happy.

Kai was the last to come down, once again sporting the scarf Kain had gotten him for Christmas and I could see Kain's face brighten when he saw it. He of course was wearing his own scarf, and his heavier jacket since it was snowing again. I had to fight the words 'you look good' from coming out of my mouth when Kai came and stood in the foyer with us.

"Just follow me there, when we're done we'll just be heading to the house. You can either come or come back here or go wherever." I told them all, even though I was still staring at Kai.

He nodded, so I opened the door and let them all out, closing and locking it behind me and followed them down the stairs to our cars. I breathed a sigh of relief as I climbed into my own car while they climbed into theirs, thankful for the separation from Kai I was being granted.

I had already made up my mind after talking with Max, I wasn't going to try and get back with Kai even if I desperately wanted to. I needed to keep my distance from Kai as much as possible now, no more late-night talks or without someone else present. We didn't need to be back together for the sake of our children, what I can have with Gabe will be enough as long as I have that connection with my kids.

"You okay dad?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I lied.


	20. Chapter 20

**Kai's POV**

As if I wasn't already confused about my feelings, that morning talk with Ray just confused me more. Reminiscing about old times, going into more detail with our relationships statuses, it felt more like it had before we had broken up. It reminded me what I really loved most about it, how easy it was to talk to him. It was something I had missed over the years, especially at night when I'd felt the loneliest. It was part of the reason I had started bringing new men to bed each night, yet it didn't help me miss him any less. Talking like we had just brought all of those old feelings back and made me wish he didn't have Gabe. If he didn't, I think I would've tried to get back together with him by now.

Although Kain and Kyra were under the impression that Gabe was cheating, I still didn't feel comfortable trying to step in on Ray's relationship when he seemed so certain and happy with it. I believed my children but even though I wished Ray was single, I didn't want them to be right about him being cheated on. He had already been hurt before, I couldn't bear to see him hurt again, even if not by me this time. I sighed, unsure what to do about my thoughts. I'd never been one to dwell on feelings for too long but when it came to Ray, it was hard to ignore them.

"Uh Dad? You okay?" Kyra frowned, waving her hand in front of my face.

Bryan had gone to take care of an issue at the Hiwatari Enterprises Japan branch so Tala had decided to take over driving us to the restaurant while I sat in the passenger seat and Dimitri and Kyra had sat on opposite ends of the back row of seats in the car. I had thought things had been better since Dimitri's sentimental Christmas gift but for some reason the two were still awkward around one another, taking every opportunity to not have to sit or stand extremely close to each other. They were still happy as could be as friends but given any opportunity to be in close proximity of the other and they repelled like oil and water.

I nodded. "Yes, just thinking."

"Must've been about something pretty interesting since I was just talking for the past few minutes and you didn't hear any of it." She grumbled.

I looked back and gave her a smirk. "I'm sorry. What were you saying?"

"I was saying that I wouldn't mind following Ray and Kain to their place, you know, after we leave the restaurant." She said in a huff.

"Sorry Kyra, but we're heading to the Hiwatari branch here in Japan." I explained over my shoulder. "Why do you want to go there though?" I rose a brow at her.

She shrugged her shoulders a bit. "Kind of interested in seeing how they lived without us, where they lived. I mean, aren't you interested in seeing the place?"

I shook my head a bit, sure the thought had always crossed my mind. Did they live in a decent home, was it big enough for all of them and was it suitable for three kids and two adults. "Maybe another time."

I could see her face start to fall as she gave a nod. "You know, it would be nice for you to try and make an effort with Kain."

I narrowed my eyes, looking forward at the road. "I have been. We talked a good amount when we went for dinner after the mall, as well as during Christmas."

"No Dad. I mean really talk to him. You explained your side of the story to me, why not to him? If I was wondering about Ray all these years, do you not think that maybe he has some questions about why you did what you did?" She questioned.

"I thought you had explained that to him after I had told you?"

"Yeah but it would be nice hearing it from you. I know I'd like to hear Ray's reasoning…" She murmured.

I glanced back to see her looking at her lap, her lips pressed together looking solemn. Did her lack of connection with Ray upset her that much?

"Kira…" I started, getting interrupted by Tala.

"Oh wow, looks like we're here. Everyone out of the car!" Tala said loudly, obviously trying to avoid the current conversation happening between my daughter and me.

The four of us got out, Kyra automatically walking to join Kain. I was obviously going to have to talk to her later about Ray but I knew she was right about talking to Kain. I had to make amends for the years I had lost by building a connection for the years to come. I had apologized to Kyra and Ray for what I had done, now I had to apologize to him.

"Well, this is it." Ray declared, motioning to the restaurant.

"Wow. Sure is impressive Ray." Tala nodded, looking around with wide eyes.

"Thank you. It's been my baby for the past five years." Ray smiled.

"Uh, hello?" Kain waved, giving Ray a raised brow.

Ray sighed, shaking his head. "My baby career wise. Of course you're my actual baby."

Kyra stepped forward, starting to walk towards what looked to be the kitchen before turning to look at Ray. "Is it okay if I check it out?"

"Of course! Feel free to look at anything you'd like. That's why I brought you all here." Ray grinned, looking pleased in our daughter's interest in his work.

She walked in, Dimitri following close behind before she awkwardly shuffled away from him. Kain furrowed his brows, following the two in as if he had some sort of idea surrounding what was going on.

I stepped to stand beside Ray who was also watching our children talk and spoke up. "It seems both of our children don't really know when to speak up about their feelings. I was hoping that's one trait of mine they wouldn't have gotten."

"Yeah I guess so." Ray mumbled, stepping to the side and putting a small distance between us.

I raised my brow, surprised by his short response. This was probably the first time that Ray had ever said less than I had. "Well, this is a nice place you have." I said, trying to start the conversation again.

"Thanks. Hey Tala, do you want a tour?" He averted, steering away from me and going to Tala who was inspecting the bar.

"Uh, sure?" Tala shrugged, looking from me to Ray with a questioning look. Glad to see I wasn't the only one thrown off by this sudden change in behaviour.

I started to follow Ray as he led Tala, who then was joined by Kyra and Dimitri around, only for him to scoot away from me again and closer to our daughter. What was going on with him?

To say I was confused would be an understatement, Ray was avoiding me like the plague since we got here. Did I do something wrong? Earlier we had been fine, it wasn't until after we got here was he acting skittish and on edge whenever I approached him. Currently he was sticking to Kyra, Dimitri, and Tala showing them around the place, so I decided to stay back. Maybe that's what it was, he just wanted his alone time with our daughter? I wasn't going to step in and break that up, since she seemed to be interested in what he was showing her.

Kain on the other hand, he just walked about looking at everything with a bored expression, so I went to him. Even though things have been getting better between us, it still felt like there was a wall there. Not to mention, I could possibly ask him why Ray was acting so strange all of a sudden.

"Hey." I approached, trying to sound as casual as I could.

He cocked an eyebrow at me, as I had said there's still that wall between us. "Hey?" He sounded unsure.

"Can I talk to you, outside?" I motioned for the front doors, from where he was sitting at the bar.

He nodded, looking like he was about to be scolded for something and followed me out. A wind blew, and he clutched to his jacket tighter, trudging through the snow behind me to the rental I had. Leaning against it I lit a cigarette and he did the same, gravitating towards me a bit more due to my body heat, even though he seemed to have plenty of his own.

"So, what's up?" He asked, blowing out a cloud of smoke.

"Did Ray say anything to you on the way here? Since we've gotten here he's been avoiding me."

He looked a bit surprised, but seemed to think it over. "No, I noticed it too when we had left, but he said he was fine." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Did you hear anything before we left?" It wasn't that I wanted him snooping on his father's private conversations, but I knew he'd be able to hear Ray better than I could through the house.

"I was in the shower this morning, and when I got downstairs with Kyra to make breakfast he sounded fine. So no, I didn't catch all of his conversation."

"Who would he have been talking to?"

"More than likely uncle Max, they're close like that." He shrugged again, taking a drag off his smoke. "But as I said, he sounded fine. Why don't you just ask him?"

"I would, but he and Kyra are busy right now and I don't want to step between that right now." I answered shaking my head slightly, and like the snap of a finger his body tensed beside me.

"I understand." He answered, though his tone didn't match his body language at all. "Well, I can ask Kyra to see if she can pry for you."

I shook my head at him. "No, that's fine."

"Alright, well I'm freezing my ass off out here, I'm gonna head back in." He said, snubbing out his cigarette under his boot.

"Wait." I called as he turned, looking over his shoulder at me with a raised brow. "You and I, we need to talk."

"We did?" I had to grunt at that, shaking my head at him again.

"Not what I meant, I need to know why you're still so uptight around me."

"That should be self-explanatory, don't you think?" Once again, I was realizing just how alike he and I were, his sharp tongue and cocky attitude that flipped around too much.

"You wanted to bring us here, I know you said it was to get Ray and I back together but." He held a hand up, turning around fully to face me again so I waited to hear him out.

"That was only part of the plan, in truth it was just to see Kyra again. I honestly didn't know if dad even still liked you, after what you did. That first day you all were here he told me why he didn't tell me about you and Kyra." He paused, his demeanor changing once more where he looked rather upset. Whether that was about me in general, or what Ray had said I wasn't sure nor was I sure I wanted to know.

"When I asked him why he didn't tell me, he said it was because it hurt. At first, I didn't truly understand so I asked, and he said it was just that. It hurt him, what you did. He said I was too young to remember, but he was drinking a lot. Hinted on the fact that…" He looked away, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to hear the rest of that sentence.

We both sucked in some air to fill our lungs before he continued, and I braced myself to hear the amount of damage I had done.

"He was suicidal." If I hadn't braced myself, I would have faltered.

"W-What do you mean?" I tried to wrap my head around the prospect of Ray being that way, I had known him a good amount of our lives and would have never pictured him to be like that. Even on his worst days, he always found a way to look at the brighter side. He had Kain, why would he allow himself to slip so far?

"Just that, he didn't go into detail about it. I don't even know if he tried, or how deep those thoughts went, but I asked him if he was and he said yes. Don't tell him I told you, I don't think he'd want you to know." I nodded to him, to let him know that he had my silent word that I wouldn't bring it up.

"Apparently Max was there for him, and he got out of it. He said that you and I, in the beginning were never close to begin with and that's why he didn't tell me about you. He was afraid you'd hurt me too, and if he told me about Kyra it was the same story." He says and then wraps himself within his own arms, another wind picking up and sweeping his hair about his face as he's gone to staring at the snow at his feet.

I have no words for him, not any that would make it better for what I had done and why I hadn't done better for him and Ray. For all of us, I could have done better, and I failed them. I failed my family, in just about every aspect a father could his children.

"So, yeah… I'm a bit uneasy around you, because I don't know you." His eyes meet mine. "I told you I had looked you up, after I found Kyra. I realized that you could have looked for us, for me at least. You never did, so why would I want to get to know you? If it wasn't for Gabe cheating on dad, I wouldn't care if you and dad didn't get together again. In the end, I just want him happy. I want to see Kyra happy."

"You said you wanted to get us together, before we learned about Gabe though?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "That was just a test really, to see what your feelings were for dad. It's obvious though that you do still love him, so I'm willing to help you two get back together. I think it would be good for Kyra, and dad in the end."

"Why?"

"Because I know that sometimes she gets upset about not having two parents, while that doesn't mean she didn't enjoy her time growing up with just you two. But, she missed a lot having that. I had dad and uncle Max, so in a way I did grow up with two parents, and siblings in their own right." He fished out another cigarette, as I grabbed another since we were going to be out here for a while now.

"And, what about Ray?"

"You want him to be with Gabe?" He asked, and I shook my head no to him. "Don't get me wrong, I never liked Gabe to begin with. Now, it's a matter of protecting dad. That is my job, as it always has been."

I rolled my eyes at him, and he rose a brow at me again. "You're his son, not the other way around."

"Yeah, but someone's gotta look after him. Right?" I simply nodded again, a bit thankful for this boy of mine.

We fell in silence while we finished our smokes, this time he didn't stand near me and avoided eye contact with me as much as possible. If anything I was rather proud of him, both of my kids, for having a tendency to be protective of their friends and us. Kyra showed it in her own way, while now I could see Kain's way of showing how he cared.

"I'm sorry." He looked at me a bit indifferently for a minute. "For not being there, for leaving the way I did and hurting you two." He shrugged his shoulders, as if he was playing it off but I could still tell it had bothered him.

"Don't worry about it, you're here now."

"Yes, but that still doesn't mean I can't apologize for not trying to be a better father." His eyes got wide, and he looked at a loss for words for a second.

"It's fine… Really." He spun around, trying to hide his face from me now. "It never bothered me, honest." He said, rubbing his face with his sleeve.

A small smile came to the corner of my mouth, and I stepped up behind him. "You sure?" I asked, placing a hand on top of his head.

He nodded, once his body relaxed from my sudden bout of affection from touching him. "Honest." He hiccupped.

"I always thought you were a woman anyways, I never felt bad about not having the other parent there. It was fine, it's been fine… Ya know, who doesn't like being tossed away by their parent?" I frowned a bit, realizing that now he was going to open up while in tears.

"I mean… You could have… You could have at least called, or something… Anything besides avoiding me. What did I do wrong? I was just a baby… You left me…" He cried, spinning around and leaning his forehead against my chest.

I was a bit stunned at first, patting his head as he cried against me until I pulled him into a hug. "I didn't mean to hurt you son, I'm sorry. You did nothing wrong, just as your sister, you were my world. I was just too blind to see it at the time, not with all the extra stress that was on me." He nods his head, his tears stopping as he still leans his forehead against me.

"You three were my world, are still my world. You know that, right?" He nods again. "I'm trying to make things right now, I want to get to know you better, want to be a part of your life now. If, you want me in yours."

He pulls away, wiping his cheeks before he looks up slightly to meet my eyes with his own since he stands just under my chin.

"I'd like that… Plus, we have to work together now and figure out what to do about princess." Once again, the flip had switched, and he looked like he wasn't a bumbling crying mess just a second ago.

"Princess?" I scoffed.

"Matt's new nickname for Gabe." He shrugged, but I didn't miss the gleam in his eyes at the mention of Matt's name.

"How is that going, by the way?" I asked, stopping myself from laughing at the name the boys had given him.

He shrugged again. "To be honest, I don't know. I'm working on it though."

"Do you love him?"

He smirked at me, his fang sticking out. "Do you love dad?" I nodded, and he nodded with me as his smirk stayed on his lips.

"Yes, I do. But that doesn't mean Matt feels the same, what we did was just because we could. In the end, I don't know how he actually feels about me. As I said before, it's for me to worry about though. For now, you and Tala focus on your task and I'll deal with mine."

"You know, you can worry about your own happiness for once too." I decided to take a page out of Tala's book, hoping he would take the advice better than I had been.

"I will, but everyone else comes first right now. Seriously, don't baby me now." He chuckled out, shaking his head. "I'm fifteen, not two anymore."

"Exactly, so hand them over." I said, holding my hand out to him.

"What?"

"You know what." I lowered my tone, motioning with my fingers to have him place the pack in my hand. "And before you say Kyra smokes, I already took hers."

He rolled his eyes, huffing a breath of air but placed the pack in my hand anyways. "You should quit too."

"Working on it." I told him, heading back towards the building. "C'mon before you freeze."

"Yeah, yeah. Surprised you're not an old man popsicle yet." He came up beside me, walking past as I smacked the back of his head. "I'm joking, you know a father isn't supposed to hit their kids."

"Then stop calling me old."

"Yes father." He rolled his eyes, and then bit his lip as if he didn't mean to actually say that.

I smirked, watching him walk away from me faster than he had done before. To be honest, it was nice hearing him calling me that though. I had finally found a slight common ground with my son, and even though everything he had told me and cried to me about just made my stomach swell with more guilt, I was glad to have finally had that moment with him. Just as I'm sure he needed it, I needed it as well. If I could go back, change what I did, I would have. Since I can't, I can only stick to my word now and stay in his life now.

* * *

"Thank you for the tour, Ray. It was really interesting to see everything." Kyra commented. If she was feeling awkward around Ray after what she confessed to me, it wasn't showing. Although I had told her how much of this situation was my fault, I was surprised to hear that she still had some hard feelings towards Ray.

"Of course. It was nice to be able to show it off to someone other than Kain who I'm pretty sure got bored of the place after the first ten times he visited." Ray laughed, eyeing our son.

"Hey, I'm just saying it'll be a lot more interesting when the place is up and running. Plus, I'll be working here which will make it even better." He grinned with a fang poking out.

"Not sure when we decided on that, but alright. Well, we're going to go to Max's." Ray told us.

Tala gave a nod, motioning to the car. "We're just going to take a drive over to the Hiwatari branch here. They had a manufacturing issue which was why Bryan couldn't come with us. Figured we'd take the kids to see it since they're all too familiar with the Russian branch, plus apparently Kai has some paper work to take care of there."

"What? I thought we agreed no work during vacation." Kyra scolded me, narrowing her eyes as she crossed her arms.

"I guess some things never change." Ray grumbled as he walked to his car.

I glared at his back as he turned away. Seriously, what the hell was that comment for? What had changed from this morning to now to make him act so differently this morning.

Kain looked between the two of us and mouthed 'What did you do?' to me, only for me to respond with a shrug.

"Uh, I guess we're going now. See you all at the house tonight!" Kain hesitated, still looking at Ray with a questioning look. He hurried and followed Ray to the car, the two pulling out of the parking lot the minute Kain closed the door, leaving the four of us in the parking lot alone.

"So that was weird, right?" Dimitri questioned, earning him a glare from Kyra and an eye roll from Tala.

"Let's go meet your father. He's already texted me a few times asking when we're going to show up. Seems he needs you to smooth some things over, boss." Tala sighed, clapping me on the back.

Great, as if I didn't need more to make today worse.

* * *

As the four of us went to walk into the Japan office I put my hand on Kyra's shoulder, causing her to stop and look at me. Tala looked back at me, only following Dimitri into the building after I waved for him to go on without us.

"I think we need to talk about what you were trying to say this morning." I started, looking down at her with a frown.

"Really Dad, we don't have to. It's fine." She brushed off, trying to go in again only to be stopped by me softly pulling her back.

"You do a great job at hiding it around him, but I can tell you're still feeling wary with Ray. What's going on?" I asked.

She sighed and started walking over to a bench to take a seat and light a cigarette. "He gave me a box of letters as my gift, along with a bunch of photos. So far, I've only looked through the photos, but they make me sad. They're all of Ray and Kain, looking happy without us. Just seeing how different Kain and I grew up makes me not even want to look at the letters."

I sat beside her and gave a nod. "Do you feel like you missed out? Kain had mentioned that you had sometimes felt that way."

"Don't get me wrong, I love you a lot. But growing up with only one dad who spent a decent amount of time at work and having no siblings was really lonely. Sure I had Tala, Dimitri and Bryan, but that didn't make up for not having you around and not having Ray in the picture. I never really told you but I remembered feeling really hurt after we moved to Russia. For a long time, I questioned what I could've done for him to not have contacted me at all. I know you didn't mean to do the things you did or work as much as you did. There's nothing I can do to change what happened but in the end, it still hurts." She spilled out.

The two of us sat in silence for a few minutes, the only noise that could be heard was Kyra blowing puffs of smoke into the air. She hadn't told me how much this had hurt her. I knew she had done it to spare my feelings, but to see her burst out like this showed me just how long she had been keeping this inside. If seeing Kain cry had made me feel guilty, seeing my daughter's grief-stricken face made me feel physically sick.

"Kyra…I know apologizing isn't going to make it better. But please know that I regret ever making that decision to move. Hurting the three of you was the last thing I wanted to do. I honestly thought that moving was going to be the best option for us, and in ways it was. When we lived in Japan and I worked here, I was barely home and I'd come back to you crying because I wasn't there. I barely got time with either you or Kain which just drove Ray and I farther apart. I moved to have more time with you and while I did, I ruined so many things. You can take things out on me as much as you want but please, do not keep yourself distanced from Ray because of what I did. He's trying to make a connection with you, malyshka." I said softly.

She looked over at me with tear filled eyes. "I just don't know what is going to be in those letters or how I'll feel or react."

"Why don't you ask Ray to go through them with you? It would be a good opportunity for the two of you to connect and he can explain his side of the story to you. It might be good for you to hear, especially since I just did the same thing with Kain."

"Wow, you actually took my advice?" She laughed, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"That's one thing you got from your father, the ability to give great advice." I smirked.

She shook her head with a smile, standing up and putting out the rest of her cigarette. "Hey Dad, just know that regardless of everything I still appreciate everything you've done for me. I know you've been beating yourself up over all the decisions you made, but you did a good job providing for me and raising me. Sure it would've been nice for us to grow up as a family, but it just being us was pretty great too."

I smiled, pulling her into a hug. "I appreciate you saying that. On a side note, I thought I took your cigarettes away. How'd you get another one?"

"Dimitri. I'm not the only one with a smoker for a dad, you know." She grinned, referring to Bryan.

I sighed with a shake of my head. "Let's just get inside so I can solve this problem and we can go home. Sorry again for having to work, by the way. I did my best to try and get Bryan to be able to do things but apparently they still need me to sign off on some things."

"It's fine. Just means you owe me. I'm thinking…a puppy? I mean, it's only fair since Kain got a kitten." She hinted.

I smirked, giving her an eye roll. "I'll think about it."

I may be on the outs with Ray for some reason, but I got to bond with both of my children and that was more than I could've asked for out of today. Now I just had to figure out what the hell I did wrong to make Ray so passive aggressive and avoidant to me.


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's Note: Sorry for the delay in when we post these chapters, I just got back from my vacation while Misfit has school and work.  
Either way, we hope you continue to enjoy the story. **

* * *

**Kain's POV**

After a half hour of a silent drive I had finally snapped. This was ridiculous for him to be so quiet when I knew he wasn't like this before we left the house.

"Dad, what's wrong?" I started, causing to jump a bit in his seat.

"Nothing, why?" He glanced at me then back at the road.

"You seem tense? Kai said you were avoiding him."

"He doesn't know what he's talking about." He butt in. If I hadn't already suspected him being pissed at the old man, that would have surprised me.

"Okay, but that doesn't explain why you're acting like this." I motioned towards him. He hit the brakes at a red light, throwing me slightly forward.

"Kain Taxon, I am not having this discussion with you. I am fine, drop it. What happens between your father and I is our business. Butt out for once." He scolded, which took me back. Sure, I've been yelled and scorned a good amount of my life, but rarely was it ever with his eyes slit like they were now, or his fangs bare.

I didn't know what to say to that so we ended up just staring at each other for a minute until he blinked, his pupils dilating, and he sighed.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to snap at you." He shook his head.

I reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright, I haven't made this easy on anyone." I said, but I thought we were all past that?

"It's not that Kain... Just..." He looked at me, and he studied my face for a long time before reaching out and placing a hand on my cheek. "You look so much like him." He sighed, patting my cheek a few times before backing away and placing his hands on the steering wheel.

If Kai was confused by dad's weird behavior, I was fixing to join him in that corner. What the hell was that all about anyways? Trying to rack my brain for something to say, a hint maybe from this morning that I had missed from the parts of the phone call I could hear.

"Do you still love him?" I asked after a moment of silence, and I could have sworn he almost choked on his own spit.

"NO! Why would you think that? After what that arrogant bastard did! Taking Kyra away, avoiding you all your life." He kept going switching to Chinese, which is always hilarious because he gets higher pitched in his anger.

Finally, the tirade stopped as we came to another stop light, he was breathing heavily and ran a hand through his bangs. I just looked at him, smirking.

"Feel better?" I asked, nudging him in the shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He nodded, laying his forehead against the steering wheel.

"I already talked to him, I forgave him for what happened between us and you should to." I told him, he didn't even react. Why does he have to be so damn stubborn?!

"Look, in the end its both of your fault for separating us. It's not just yours and it's not just his, I thought we've been over this." I breathed out, shaking my head.

He finally sat up, a nice red mark from where he had pressed his forehead against the wheel now marred his skin.

"I know, I know... It's not that, I've forgiven him too I really have. I'm glad you two talked, how was it?" He asked, glancing at me for a second before following the line of cars as the light turned green.

I shrugged my shoulders. "It was... Emotional? On my part at least, nice I guess... I don't know, it was kind of awkward. You know how I get when I'm upset, I like to be cuddled and he doesn't seem like the kind, but I leaned into him anyways and he kind of hugged me?" I explained it best I could, and dad was trying his best not to laugh in my face.

"Sounds like your father." He chuckled, reaching over and ruffling my hair. "He's not very affectionate, least not with those he's not close to. Give him some time, I can't promise it'll be the same as if it were me, but he can be a good support when you need it."

"So, I shouldn't invite him to cuddle under warm blankets and eat ice cream while watching soap operas?" I laughed, and he followed suit.

"Hey, that's our thing. You two find something else to bond over." He fake pouted at me, nudging me in the arm.

"No, the soap operas are your thing. I just like the warm blankets, cuddles, and ice cream."

He rolled his eyes, pulling up to the house. "I'll remember that when a new episode is on, I won't invite you. I'll have all the ice cream and blankets to myself." He laughed, stepping out of the car while I jumped out after him once getting the gifts for the twins.

"Hey! No that's not what I meant." I latched to his arm with my free hand, as we stepped up to the front door while he dug for the keys. "Gonna be weird not being able to just walk in whenever, hu?"

He paused for a second, the key in the lock as if he had become frozen by my words. "Yeah..." He mumbled, unlocking the door.

"Nobody's home." I frowned as I stepped into the house, taking off my shoes at the door and stepping in.

"Do you want to stay and wait for them?" Dad asked as he followed me in, taking his own shoes off and heading to the kitchen.

"If you don't mind, I'll text Matt and see where they are." I told him as I stepped up to the bar of the kitchen, placing the boxes down on the counter top.

I texted Matt, but he didn't respond for five minutes and I placed my phone in my back pocket. Dad had been watching me carefully, sipping at a glass of water across from me in the space of the kitchen.

"No answer?" He asked, and I shook my head.

"Can we wait a bit longer?"

He nodded his approval, so I got up to head to my room to grab a few things I would need for the rest of the month. I don't know why dad decided to follow me, but he did, and he sat down on the edge of my bed on the left of the room by the door.

"Looks like Matt's been cleaning, good I almost killed myself coming in here when you were at camp."

I rolled my eyes at him, rummaging through my closet for some heavier clothes since it was getting colder.

"I didn't mean to snap at you earlier, I'm sorry. There's just a lot going on right now." He picked up from our conversation earlier, and I simply nodded to let him know I was listening.

"With the restaurant having troubles, to Gabe being gone almost all the time now. With what you did to me, and then having to rebuild a relationship with my own daughter... It's a lot right now."

I turned to face him, pulling out one of Matt's shirts to take with me and leaned against the frame of the closet. I wasn't going to bring up Gabe cheating, he wouldn't believe me anyways. I didn't have evidence to support my idea that Gabe is the one stealing from the restaurant, and we had already been over my plan of bringing everyone here. So, that left me with the last topic; Kyra.

"Why is that so hard though? I thought you two were bonding? You've done a lot more than I have with the old man."

He shook his head a bit. "We have, and it's been wonderful to hear about her dreams for the future and what she wants to do. It's great to know that she's had a good childhood, but it's still hard because I wasn't there. I'm the one who gave birth to you two, you have to remember that. I bonded with the both of you before you were even born, and for a while it was just her and I." He paused for a minute, and I finally got tired of standing so I sat on the bed beside him.

"Your father had to work a lot, even when Kyra was just an infant. So I had her all to myself during the day because at night the second Kai got home, he'd take her from me. Not that I minded since I needed the break, but we had a bond, a strong bond like you and I have now. To have to rework that, to get what I used to have..."

"It'll happen." I said, patting his back. "She kind of reminds me of Kai, like she has her own walls up. Maybe she doesn't understand why you never tried to get in contact with her all these years? That was my question to Kai at least."

He seemed to think it over, and nodded his head once more. "Maybe... It wasn't like I didn't want to, I just didn't know where to start."

"Don't tell me, tell her." I chuckled, and he smirked at me.

"Sorry."

"It's alright, I'm just telling you I'm not the right kid to be spilling your heart out to at the moment. Not that I don't mind it, I'm always here if you need me." I said, laying my head on his shoulder.

"Since when did I become the son and you the father?" He laughed, placing his head upon mine and purring softly. He hasn't done that since I was a child, and so I purred back for him.

"Dunno, just felt like giving you an extra shoulder to lean on if you need it. Should teach Kyra how to purr." I pulled away, grabbing the clothes I had pulled from the closet and stuffing them in my back pack that was crammed under my bed.

Dad watched me, eyeing the shirt for a second before shaking his head. "That's stealing, and she did know when she was a toddler. It was you I had a hard time trying to teach." He laughed, and my face turned red.

"Oh, that's pretty funny, how come? And he won't notice, plus it'll help me actually sleep."

"You weren't a happy baby, Kyra was a lot easier to console... You've not been sleeping well?" He inquired.

I shook my head. "Not really no..." I breathed out, zipping my bag closed before sitting back on the bed with him.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Maybe later, with blankets and ice cream." I smirked, and before he said anything back my ears perked as the front door opened.

"I'll let you two talk, don't be stupid." He warned, placing a quick kiss to the top of my head.

"Hey." I swatted at him, rubbing at the spot as he laughed and walked out of my room.

It didn't take long before Matt stepped into our room, carrying the box I had left on the counter in the kitchen for him. I waited, fidgeting on my bed as he came in and sat down in the corner of the room at the desk. He barely even looked at me, keeping his back to me the entire time.

"You can open that." I told him, trying to peer over his shoulder.

"I didn't get you anything..." He mumbled, spinning around in the chair to face me while eyeing the box in his lap.

I shrugged. "That's fine, not like I was here to open it anyways."

He nodded, tearing into the paper and pulling the tabs apart. His brilliant blue eyes widened, looking inside the box before at me and back again a few times. Each time he did that, my smile just got bigger as I watched him. If I hadn't said it before, I'll say it now, he's just so damn adorable.

"Kain... I... Thank you, this is amazing." He pulled out the new launcher and blade, as if they were made of glass before setting the box down by his feet.

"Did you make this?"

I nodded. "Most of it, yeah. I had some help though, used some better spare parts from Driger since I got an upgrade myself. Kyra and Dimi helped with getting some of the parts, he said he's really sorry for that battle at camp."

He shook his head, waving off my words while still checking everything out in his hands. "Tell him not to worry about it. This, this is amazing though. You guys did awesome, thank you." He finally looked up again and I had to thank the gods for blessing this beautiful man with the most adorable smile ever.

"Not a problem, I messaged you a bit ago, but you didn't answer."

His face fell a bit and he shifted in the chair. "Sorry about that, phone got broken. We just came back from getting a new one, I haven't even bothered to turn it on."

"How'd your other one break?" I asked, arching a brow at him. It wasn't like him to be clumsy with his electronics.

"Brittany smashed it." He chuckled. "Right before she broke up with me yesterday, after you and I talked."

I had to hide my smile, while trying to frown at the same time I wanted to shout for joy at that. He didn't look all that upset about them not being together, if anything he looked pissed off because of his phone getting busted.

"So... What happened, you flirt with her cousin or something?" I snickered, and he shook his head.

"Nope, apparently she didn't like the fact I'm bisexual." He shrugged like it didn't bother him, but between the two of us he was still having troubles accepting himself.

"Oh... How'd she even find out?" I asked, I wasn't that obvious at dinner that day when we went to the mall, was I?

Sure, I had spent a good few hours of starring and trying to talk to him, since he was still avoiding me and focusing on her the entire time. That was one of the reasons I ended up talking to Kai half the night afterwards, in all honesty I don't even remember what we talked about though. Beyond that dinner, Brittany hadn't really seen much of me around Matt so how did she find out?

He started to laugh, shaking his head. "It was my fault really. I left my phone on the table and she went through it, saw some photos of us I never deleted. She actually screamed like she was dying, and acted like it was the end of the world." He laughed harder and I found myself chuckling along.

"Please don't tell me she saw those photos I sent you for your birthday." I asked, though really, I didn't care if she did.

He shook his head harder. "God nooooo, I actually deleted those ones the second I got them. What were you thinking sending me those anyways?" He laughed, his cheeks turning pink.

I shrugged my shoulders at him. "Thought it was a nice present." I smirked showing him my fang. "You didn't complain when you got them either, if I remember right you." He shot up so fast, pressing a hand to my mouth before I could even finish.

"Let's not talk about that, okay?" He asked, his face still tinted pink.

I just stared back for a minute into those blue eyes of his, the warmth of his hand on my lips was enough to make my head go foggy and all I could manage to do was nod. He pulled away and I almost reached out to pull him on top of me on the bed, but I didn't think it'd be a good step in the right direction. He wanted space and time, and I would give it to him.

He walked over to his own bed in the opposite wall mine sat on, laying down on his back starring at the ceiling.

"I should prolly get going, surprised my dad hasn't come in here yet." I chuckled, feeling the air around us grow tense.

"How is everything over there? Are you actually doing alright?" He asked rolling on his side to look at me.

"For the most part yeah, I'm fine. The first night wasn't easy, by any means, and for dad and the others it got better."

"Why not for you?" He asked after he heard the waver in my voice.

"Well I screwed up the first morning they were all there, and going through some other stuff of my own that was just weighing me down I guess. It's gotten better since the ice rink and mall though; Kyra and I talk a lot and I've actually talked with my other old man." I explained, and he smiled at me a bit.

"So, it worked out in the end? That's good, I'm happy for you."

"Not everything is as easy as that though..." I said and ground my teeth, Matt gave me a questioning look, so I moved across the space of the room and sat down beside his bed getting as close to him as I could without making him uncomfortable.

"Gabe is cheating on dad, I don't know how long he's been doing it but yesterday he was gone all day and came back smelling like sex." I whispered out to him and his own eyes went wide, his jaw setting as he ground his own teeth together.

"You haven't told him?"

I shook my head. "Do you think he'd believe me?" He seemed to understand and shook his own head. "I can't tell him because of that, while if Kai tells him he'll just brush it off and it'll be the same with Kyra."

"So, what're you going to do?"

"Kai and Tala, that's Dimi's papa, are looking at why the restaurant has had so many problems. I think it's Gabe, since they found out someone is stealing from dad. Kai doesn't think so, but I want to look into Gabe more." I explained still in the low whisper, it wasn't often dad eavesdropped on conversations, but I wanted to make sure.

"And how are you planning to do that?" He asked, leaning a bit closer to me as he whispered. There was a mischievous glint in his eye, no wonder our fathers always complained about not being able to sleep because of us.

My smirk widened as I shifted up closer, leaning on the edge of the bed as I kneeled on the floor.

"What I do best of course."

"Need help?" He smiled that devil grin of his that rarely came out, sometimes I wondered what kind of person he'd be if I hadn't corrupted him.

Besides the whole investigating Gabe thing, there was one other thing he could have helped me with, but once again I was caught between that and giving him his space. I backed away, running a hand through my bangs.

"Need all the help I can get, when I get back I'm going to get Kyra and Dimi on board with everything." I explained while standing up, I don't know why or if I was only seeing things, but he looked slightly upset after I had backed away.

"Do you need the laptop? I don't want to use the computer at Gabe's."

He sat up, that still upset look in his eyes as he leaned back on his hands stretching out his back. The view itself would have made straight men drool, not many people know it, but he's got a six pack under all those baggy clothes of his. Okay, now that's just not fair Matthew, I'm trying to give you your space and you go and look like that? I swear he was making this hard on purpose, so I turned my back to him, so I didn't have to look at him.

"Nah, go ahead and take it. If there's something you need me to do, just let me know."

"Thanks man, I appreciate it." I told him over my shoulder, heading to the desk to collect the laptop. "Better head out now." I tucked the laptop under my arm, retrieving my back pack off my bed.

"Alright... Keep me updated." He called as I stepped closer to the door. "Don't get in too much trouble, I'm not there to save your ass."

I turned and flipped him the bird, that damn smirk of mine back in full force. "I'll call ya if I need it savin."

He just smiled back, that same mischievous glint coming back as he nodded his head and waved bye to me. I came back out into the main room of the house, dad and uncle Max stopped their talking at the bar and both gave me this smile as if they knew something I didn't. Immediately my face got hotter and I had to look away quickly, nothing happened you two old perverts!

"Ready to go Kain?" Dad asked, that stupid smile not leaving his face.

"Yes!" I shouted, marching to the door stiffly and they just laughed at my back. "Nothing happened!" I yelled, my face hotter now.

"No one said anything son, calm down." Dad chuckled coming over to put his shoes on. "Think you can drive us home?"

"Yes!" I snatched the keys he pulled out, only to have him snatch them back.

"Well too bad." He laughed, sticking his tongue out at me. "I'll see you later Max." He waved, and Max waved back to us.

"We'll see you in a few days." Max said, his expression changing quickly. What was that about?

"Please don't look at me like that." Dad sighed out, rolling his eyes.

"I know, I'm sorry. I just wish you would really consider having the wedding so early now." Wait, the wedding isn't until February, that's a month away.

"It's out of my hands right now Max. Gabe wants to have it on the fifth, I see no reason not to." My mouth dropped, when the fuck did this get decided?!

I kept my mouth shut, deciding it best to consult the old man and Kyra about this together. We barely had a week to stop this, how the hell was I supposed to get my evidence in time?

"I know... I'll see you then." Max shook his head a bit, and I realized I'd need his help too as a few ideas were starting to come to mind.

If we couldn't stop the wedding from coming up, the most we could do is stop it from actually happening. Which to me sounded more fun anyways, if dad was surprised when I brought everyone here he sure as hell will love it when I expose his cheating, stealing boyfriend at the altar. Now it was just a matter of convincing the old man and my sister to go along with this plan, shouldn't be too hard.


	22. Chapter 22

**Kyra's POV**

"Psst."

I pulled the blankets closer to my face, groaning softly before trying to drift off into my deep sleep.

"Psst!"

Seriously, what the hell was that sound?

"Hey sis!" Kain's voice boomed in my ear as I felt my blanket get ripped away from me.

"What the fuck?!" I growled, squinting my eyes as Kain open my blinds to reveal the blinding sun. "Do you not know what time it is?"

"Yeah, it's nine thirty. Everyone is up but you. Honestly thought you were dead since I knocked for five minutes straight before finally deciding to come in. Now forget about sleep, we have important business to discuss, dear sister." He rambled on as I took back my blanket and pulled it over my body. "By the way, why the hell are you wearing shorts and a t-shirt when it's Winter?"

"This is nothing. Russia was negative fifteen degrees when we left. This feels like Spring. But seriously, could you not wait until after eleven for this news? I don't even have coffee in me yet." I grumbled, trying to lay back in bed before he ripped my blanket away from me again.

"No, this is important! But I did bring coffee." He grinned, picking up one of two tall mugs he had placed on my dresser. "Surprised you didn't smell it since your senses have been coming in."

I shrugged, taking the mug from his outstretched hand. "They come and go. Never seem very permanent. Now, what is this news you deem so important to wake me up when I am obviously not a morning person?"

"Dad and Gabe moved up the wedding." He stated, taking a seat at the end of the bed with his coffee cup in hand.

"I know. Dad told me last night before we went out for dinner."

"Well, it means we have to amp up our investigation! We need to figure out what the hell Gabe is up to before he marries Dad. He obviously moved the wedding up for some reason." He scowled.

I nodded, taking a sip of my coffee with my eyes closed before revealing my red orbs again. "What's your plan?"

"I brought the laptop from my place with Matt since we obviously can't use the computer here. Thought you might have some ideas on how to find information on him?" He asked.

"Yeah. I used to background check a lot of the guys Dad brought over without him knowing about it. He never brought over any bad people but man, did those guys have some issues." I shook my head, not wanting to remember my Dad's terrible choices in men since Ray.

"Alright, we'll start once you're actually up and dressed." He stated, standing up only to walk across the room to look at my desk, picking up the box Ray had given me for Christmas. "What's this?"

"Christmas present from Ray." I sighed, going to get a pair of sweatpants and a long sleeve shirt from my suitcase.

"What is it?" He asked, doing his best to try and not look nosy while peering into the box.

"It looks to be letters. There's some pictures on top too."

"What do they say?" He questioned.

"Not sure. Haven't really gotten farther than the pictures." So many questions so early in the morning. Why did my brother have to be such a morning person when I was such a night owl?

"How come?"

"I just haven't, okay?" I snapped. "All of those pictures, they just show what we had and then how happy you guys look after we're gone. I don't really want to read the letters if that's just what they're going to be about."

He frowned, coming over and putting his hand on my shoulder. "I think you really need to talk more to Dad. Go over these letters together and hear him out. I know you're hurting, but he's hurting too, you know. I had my emotional talk with Kai, it's your turn with Dad."

I scowled, turning away from him. In my life, I had only ever been emotionally vulnerable with four people; Dad, Dimitri, Tala and Bryan. Anyone else I'd kept at a large distance or simply ignored. Even Sven, someone I considered one of my best friends, still wasn't someone I was truly open with about my feelings. All I'd really known was those four and having to open up to two people that were now considered family to me was a foreign concept.

"Look, I know it feels uncomfortable. I can tell you get your ways of handling emotions from Kai. But maybe getting some things off your chest to Dad will help in fixing whatever it is that's keeping the two of you disconnected. He's missed having that with you and I know finally talking about it would mean the world to him." Kain explained in a soft voice.

"I think this is the most sense I've ever heard you make." I smirked, causing him to grin.

"Hey, I'm not co-captain of my team for nothing. I do give some good advice. Now get ready and go talk to Dad. It'll also be something to keep him busy while I go do some snooping in Gabe's office." He said, a mischievous look in his eyes.

I rolled my eyes with a sigh. "Always something in it for you. At least bring Dimitri along. Weirdly enough, he's actually pretty good at picking locks."

"Do I want to know how you know that?" He raised his brow.

"Probably not." I spun around to start walking out of the room towards the bathroom to get ready.

"By the way, we still need to talk about what is going on with you and Dimi!" He yelled after me.

"No, we don't!" I yelled back, shutting the bathroom door before he could get another word in. Little brothers, such a pain in the ass.

* * *

After showering, I had put on the clothes I had picked out, tied my waist length hair into a high pony tail and took a seat on my bed with the box Ray had given me on my lap. I reached in, plucking out the photos to finally take a good look at them. The first was a photo that looked to be taken in the hospital, most likely the day I was born. Ray was laying in the hospital bed, a huge grin on his face as he looked down at me, sleeping in his arms. Dad was sat on the edge of the bed beside him, one arm around Ray and the other was reached out to my small body, his finger held by my little hand. He was smiling so genuinely I had to laugh a bit, realizing how much I've had Dad wrapped around my finger since the day I was born.

The next few seemed to be within the first year of me being born. They varied from Ray holding me or sleeping with me on his chest, to Dad holding me at his desk and carrying me throughout the house. It was interesting to see how many photos there were of Ray and me. Although I looked to be close with both of my parents, it looked like Ray and I had been particularly close.

The last photos from before Kain were born were where it seemed to be only Ray and I. Photos of me hugging onto his legs, looking up at his pregnancy bump, cuddling with him and looking content. I knew Dad had been working a lot, but I didn't realize how much after seeing how absent he was in these photos. After Kain's birth it became apparent that the split had happened. Less photos of Ray and I, more of him and Kain. We only had two family photos together. The rest led into Ray and Kain as he grew older. Showing them at Beyblade tournaments, middle school graduation, when the two of them moved in with Max, Stella and Matt. So many things they'd done together that Dad and I had missed out on. So much time that he'd missed with me.

I took one of the letters in my hands but couldn't will myself to unfold it. I had to hear what Ray had to say, not just read the words from the past. I had to understand his side of things. I put the contents of the box back inside of it, picking it up and making my way downstairs to finally have the conversation I should've had with Ray when he first gave me this gift.

I entered the kitchen to see Ray cooking eggs for himself, banging around pots and pans as he cleaned up while Dad poured coffee, giving Ray a look the bordered along the lines of confused and annoyed.

I went up to Dad, raising a brow and deciding to speak softly in Russian as to not irritate Ray more. " _What happened? You two were getting along so well until yesterday."_

Dad shrugged, turning to leave the room. _"I have no idea. We were fine yesterday morning. Then we got to the restaurant and he was like that."_ He sighed. Poor Dad, can't seem to catch a break lately.

I frowned. " _Maybe I made it worse by suggesting for the two of us to go out for dinner yesterday?"_

" _No, don't think like that. If he really wants to be mad about that he can be mad at me. I'm going to keep working with Tala to figure things out. What are you up to?"_

I held up the box and motioned to Ray. _"Finally having my needed talk since you had yours."_

He gave me a smile and nodded, starting to make his way back towards the stairs. " _Let me know if you need saving. He seems a bit on edge."_

Alright, here goes nothing. I shuffled a little closer to Ray, clutching the box to my chest. "Um, Ray? Is now an okay time to talk?" This is the first time I'd felt nervous. Normally I had control over most situations I put myself in, but this one was completely foreign.

He turned around, giving me an apologetic smile. "Yes of course. Sorry about that, just a bit on edge."

"If this is about Dad and I going out to dinner yesterday instead of coming home, that was my idea. Dad had mentioned coming back but I wanted to have a dinner just him and I to make this Christmas time feel a bit more normal after all the changes." I said quietly.

"Oh no! It's not about that at all. Don't worry, I know things have changed a lot pretty quickly and that might be hard to adjust to. Trust me, it is for me too." He reassured.

"Is that why you've been so pissed off? Cause Kain seems pretty confused too. If Dad did something-" I started to speak, getting interrupted by Ray.

"So, what was it you came down for?" Alright, so obviously you don't want to talk about Dad.

"Um, well…this." I said softly, holding up the box.

His features softened, coming and taking the box from me. "Did you read them?"

I shook my head, looking at the floor from awkwardness. "I couldn't do it. The pictures already hurt to look at. I want…I want to hear it from you. I don't want to read it on a page. I want to hear you tell me what was going on and explain why you never found me." I started off still soft, slowly my voice becoming the assertive and confident one I had grown to know.

He motioned for me to sit at the kitchen table, waiting for me to sit down till he brought a mug of black coffee and his own tea over, placing the mug of coffee in front of me. He sat down next to me, unpacking the contents of the box and setting the letters out in what looked to be chronological order. He picked up one dated just after my third birthday and held it up.

"This was a month after you and your father had left. I imagine he told you how I kept you for the month after he had taken you to Russia without telling me?" I nodded in response, waiting for him to keep going. "I had celebrated your third birthday with you and after Kai had come to get you I'd hoped that the month away from all of us would've given him time to think about everything. He had been overjoyed when he'd come to pick you up but hadn't let on that anything was going to change. It wasn't till I hadn't heard from him for two weeks that I decided to look into what was happening. I'd called the house, his cellphone and his work phone only to get disconnected. It wasn't until I went by the house and saw it empty and for sale that I knew you both had gone.

"I hadn't gotten a call, letter or even an email telling me where the two of you had gone. I'd actually broken down in front of the house to the point that I had to call Max to pick me up. I spent the first few days held up in bed, unable to stop crying and kept your picture close to me the entire time. Thankfully Max was there to take care of Kain since I was in no place to. This whole letter outlines all of my questions and was kind of directed to your father as well. Wondering where you were, if you were safe, why Kai would do that to me. I know you wouldn't remember, but we had a very strong bond before everything happened. Of course, even before the two of you left you were always your father's little girl, but you were my first child. We were always together, and you were at your most content when around me." He finished softly.

I sat in silence, my eyes starring at the table as I processed what had been said. As much as I understood Dad's reasoning for doing what he did, I couldn't help but feel guilty at the amount of pain that my absence had caused Ray. "It was like losing two loved ones in one swoop, wasn't it? You still loved Dad at this point."

He gave me a sad smile and nod. "Yes. Regardless of how bad he was at communicating with me and his reckless decisions, I still loved your father. I may have been the one to end things, but I had done it to do what was best for you and your brother. I wanted to make things work eventually with him. But when he left and took you, it was like having most of my heart get ripped out. I had already had a bit of time to process things ending between Kai and I, regardless of the hope that I held. Losing you though, that was something I never expected to happen."

I pointed to the next letter, one that was dated the time of my fourth birthday. "What about this one?"

He smiled a bit. "Well the starting is happier." He unfolded it, starting to read the beginning. "Happy fourth birthday to my Kyra Mei. I can't believe that four years ago I was sixteen years old, sitting in a hospital bed at one in the morning, nervous to meet the one who would change my life forever. Four years ago, you made me a Papa and I couldn't have been happier. I miss you so much, baby girl. I hope you are experiencing all of the joy the world can bring you on your special day."

I gave him a genuine smile. "Sounds like you and Dad felt the same way. Every year in my birthday card he writes 'You may not have been planned, but you're the most beautiful accident to ever happen to me.' "

Ray laughed, putting down the letter. "That sums it up well. You should've seen your father the day you were born. I've never seen him so emotional."

"So, what else did you say in the letter? I assume it's not just birthday wishes."

He shook his head with a frown. "No. That past year is one I am the most ashamed of. I had begun drinking to cope with the depression I felt from losing you. I'd tried everything I could think of to try and reach out. I continued to call Hiwatari Enterprises only to be disconnected, sent letters only for them to be sent back. I felt hopeless and although I had Kain to look out for, the depression from losing you overpowered my need to look after my own son. I constantly left Kain with Max even though he was already stressed from having to take care of Stella and Matt on his own, only to go out and drink to the point I couldn't feel anything. One night it got to the point where I was standing near an overpass contemplating if it was even worth staying alive anymore. I had been abandoned by Kai, lost you and was failing miserably by Kain. I didn't feel like I was worth anything, till Max and Tyson found me.

"They brought me back to the house where Max sat me down, yelling at me 'Kyra's gone. She's gone, and I don't know when she's coming back, but you and I both know you are failing the child that is here now. Kai has already left him. Don't you go and leave him too because you are all he's got left.' That was the night I finally came to my senses and sobered up, finally taking back my role as father to my son. I still hurt severely from losing you, but it was something I had to keep at bay in order to be there for Kain." He stated.

"Has…has this been something you've told Dad?" I choked out.

"No. Kain didn't even know until the past week. This has been something that's been kept between Max, Tyson and I for the past fourteen years. Like I said, it's the moment I'm most ashamed of." He sighed, running his hand through his bangs.

Although it wasn't a natural response for me, I took hold of his other hand and squeezed, causing him to look at me with wide eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for blaming you."

He squeezed my hand back and shook his head. "Sweetheart, you have no reason to be apologizing to me. You are the child and are not to be feeling guilty for things your father and I did. Yes, he made mistakes, but I made mistakes when I decided not to go through legal actions in order to keep custody of you. I was the one who made the arrangements and in the end, both your father and I are to blame for this mess we've gotten the four of us into. Never feel guilty for feeling the way you do. It's true, I probably could've been looking for you these past fourteen years. But after everything I had gone through, it hurt too much to try and continue the search. I also knew that by finding you, I'd also be putting myself in contact with Kai again and that was something I didn't think I could handle. I'm sorry for not doing more to keep you with me."

I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, ones I refused to let fall. All these years he did want to see me. He still cared about me and wanted to have a connection with me. "What about the other ones?"

"These are all for various birthdays and Christmases. I stopped trying to send them after my first two were sent back, but when I had gone to therapy I had been told that writing to you may be a good way of coping with loss. So, I continued to write the letters as a way to still feel connected with you, even if they just ended up going in this box. I wrote about how things were with Kain and I, how I imagined you would be. I asked constant questions of how you were and if you were happy. Now I get to see that it's obvious you had a good childhood with your father." He smiled.

I nodded, letting go of his hand and starting to drink my coffee. "Yes. He may not feel like it, but Dad did a really good job raising me. He actually listened when I said he worked too much and started spending more time with me. He taught me how to blade, always helped with homework, took me all around Russia and taught me the history behind every place we visited. He even signed me up for piano lessons and sat through every single piano recital even though I sucked up until a few years ago. He may give Uncle Tala and Uncle Bryan a lot of credit when it comes to me, but he did a really great job." I reminisced.

Ray stood up, leaving the room for a moment only to come back with the photo album that Dad had given him for Christmas. "Now that I've told you a bit about how things were while you were gone, why don't you give me some insight into some of these photos?" He grinned, placing the photo album in front of me. He flipped a few pages and pointed at a photo of Dimitri and I sitting in the sand box, me holding a full bucket of sand over an unsuspecting Dimitri's head. "I can tell there's a mischievous story coming from this."

I smirked, thinking back to that time. "I was six and Dimitri was five. It was one summer day at Uncle Tala and Uncle Bry's where Dad and Bryan were on the porch talking while Uncle Tala had decided to take photos of Dimitri and I as we played. I had shared my sand toys with Dimitri which he decided to thank me for by giving me a kiss on the cheek. I wasn't very happy about it so that was my solution for letting him know. Dimitri cried for a good twenty minutes while Dad had to sit me down and explain why it wasn't nice for me to pour sand on my friend's head."

He laughed, shaking his head at my answer. "Nice to know you were as mischievous as your brother and it wasn't just bad parenting. The amount of times I had to scold him for throwing mud at Stella or thinking Matt could jump from the top of a tree like he could was far too many."

He flipped a few pages to show some photos of Sven, Dimitri and I posing with trophies and metals, only revealing our smiles in one. The three of us stood up straight and proud, me in the middle with both boys on either side of me. The three of us held on to the large gold trophy we had received with grins on our faces. "You won a tournament?"

"Yeah that was last year's Russian National tournament. We've won titles before, but this was our first time actually taking a tournament in a clean sweep. Never lost once." I said proudly.

"I assume this is Spencer's son since he is a spitting image of him?" Ray asked.

"Yeah, he's the oldest of the three of us. He may look like Spencer, but he is the cockiest person I've met in my life." I sighed. Looking at this photo reminded me how much I missed our third team mate.

Ray flipped to one of the last pages, bringing attention to a photo that had an edge folded over. If just looked at for what it was, it would've just looked like myself, Sven and the girl he was seeing at the time at a high school dance, until you looked at the fact half of my arm was cut out of the picture.

"I feel like there is a story surrounding this one." He said quietly, his eyes scanning over the photo. Sven was dressed in an all-black tuxedo with a powder blue bow tie to match his date's dress. I was dressed in a longer burgundy gown with thin black spaghetti straps and was giving a playful smirk at the person cropped out of the photo by the fold.

I scowled, taking the photo out from behind the film of the album and unfolding it to reveal my ex-boyfriend, Tristan Daniels. He was smirking back at me, his shaggy black hair slicked back to match the look of his clean cut black suit. "This was from a dance we went to last year. I don't really remember who the girl with Sven is, since he has a tendency of dating around, but the guy is my ex-boyfriend. His name is Tristan. He's the son of a big shot lawyer at Spencer's law firm and makes it obvious he comes from money. Pretty sure he just dated me because of the Hiwatari name but he was fun to talk to and hang out with. I ended breaking up with him because of the strain that our relationship was putting on Dimitri and I's friendship, plus-"

I got interrupted by Gabe walking in, coming behind Ray and kissing him on the cheek despite the irritated look Ray was giving him.

"I thought you said you were getting called into work?" Ray sighed, obviously frustrated by Gabe's interruption to our conversation.

"Originally I was but another doctor ended up going in before I could get there and taking care of the patient. I thought I'd come back and we could spend the day together and look over wedding details since I've been gone so much lately. I just have to make a phone call and we can get started."

"But Gabe, Kyra and I were just-" Ray started, getting interrupted yet again by Gabe.

"I'm just not sure when else we'll be able to get these details finalized. Kyra doesn't mind, right Kyra?" He questioned, looking at me with his dull, green eyes. Something about the way he was looking at me creeped me out.

"Uh…I guess not." I muttered as I put the photo back in its slot, standing up to put my empty coffee mug in the dishwasher.

"So, it's settled then. I'm going to go to my office and make this phone call, but I'll be back in twenty minutes." Gabe stated, kissing Ray's cheek again and turning to go back towards his office. I really hope Kain and Dimitri weren't still in there or else we were all screwed.

"I'm sorry about that, Kyra. I guess with the wedding date being moved up he's more worried about things not being finished in time. Did you want to continue talking? I was interested to hear more about this Tristan character." He frowned, coming to fill his empty tea cup with more of the sweet berry tea we had given him.

"No, it's okay. A story for another time." I responded. I looked up to see Dimitri and Kain stroll through the back door, looking as if they had been coming from the lake when I knew they had just been in Gabe's office.

Ray raised his brow, looking directly at Kain. "I didn't hear the two of you leave. Where were you?"

"Oh, we just went out to the lake to get some blading in. Dimitri was teaching me how to use the new blade that the old man got me for Christmas." Kain explained, his attention then being pulled as he looked around, looking as if he heard something. "Gabe's home?" Nice save little brother. Act like you don't know when you do.

Ray nodded. "Yes, he didn't end up having to go into work so we're going to finish some of the wedding planning today. Please don't cause too much trouble."

"Wouldn't dream of it. Hey Kyra, want to come join Dimitri and I and play Xbox?" Kain asked, raising his brow and looking between Ray and I to show he wasn't actually inviting me to play video games, but really was looking for a reason to leave the room.

"Sure. I'll talk with you later, Pa-I mean, Ray." My cheeks flushed, getting warm at my attempt to call Ray Papa. Where did that come from?

His eyes looked shocked, just nodding in a bewildered response as Kain took my hand to drag me up the stairs as Dimitri followed along. He brought us into Dad's room, revealing Dad sitting on the edge of the bed as Uncle Tala sat at the desk in front of a laptop with Uncle Bryan standing behind him, looking over his shoulder.

"So, we found some information but that can wait for now. Gabe is on the phone and when I tried to listen in I couldn't understand him. It sounds like he's speaking some sort of other language or something." Kain said quickly as he shut the door behind him.

I raised my brow, deciding to put the energy into using my new found neko-jin skills. I closed my eyes, focusing on my hearing and trying to hear what Gabe was saying. Once I finally heard clearly, I opened my eyes, looking at the five men in the room and resting my eyes on Kain.

"You may not understand him, but I can. He's speaking Russian."


	23. Chapter 23

**Ray's POV**

"Hey dad." Kain greeted me, having to pause my rampage in the kitchen I turned and gave him a nod.

"Morning, old man." He greeted Kai, and I could hear the sly smirk our son gave him in his words.

Kai made a noise between a grunt and sigh, probably shaking his head and scowling at my back for how his son turned out. Not my fault Kai, not like you were here to help me raise him.

"Kyra's not up yet?" Kain asked.

"Not a morning person." Kai responded.

"Pity. Well I'll just take her some coffee then, wake her up." Kain said, grabbing two mugs and filling them with the coffee.

"I wouldn't do that." Kai warned, only to have his warning get dismissed as Kain left us.

It got quiet in the kitchen again, besides my rampage of banging pots and pans in my quest of cleaning them while ignoring my ex; damn my heat, almost 15 years without having one and all of a sudden, he shows up and it comes along.

"Can you possibly be any louder?" Wrong choice of words Kai, just shut up.

Defiantly I turned, locked eyes with him and slammed the frying pan on top of the stove.

His eyes narrowed, and he frowned. "Real mature Ray."

"You asked." Dammit, I did not mean for that to sound flirty! Why did Tala and Bryan have to leave me here?

He rolled his eyes at me. "What's your problem?"

"Don't have one." I snapped back, turning to the stove so I could finally make my breakfast.

"You're terrible at lying, that hasn't changed." Stop talking!

"And your sarcasm still knows no bounds." I said over my shoulder, his glare burning into my back. I think his eyes just landed and stared at my ass longer than it should have.

"Ray... Please the kids are wondering what the hell has happened between the day before to yesterday, even I am confused. What did I do wrong now?" For a moment I had nothing to say, he sounded so hurt and broken and it hurt me.

Truth be told, it had nothing to do with what he had done or didn't do. It was me, I needed to keep at bay, knowing if I kept going the way we were I'd lose my mind; not like it hadn't already jumped ship the moment they got here.

"Nothing is wrong. Kind of surprised you're even concerned about this." It got quiet after that, the only noise was from my eggs cooking in the frying pan.

"Sorry I even bothered." He snapped, going back to his coffee and toast he had made himself earlier. "Why didn't you tell Kain about me? Or even Kyra?" He spoke up after a moment of silence.

"Like you cared whether or not he knew about you. You were so concerned about me taking Kyra away from you, while I was concerned you didn't want anything to do with Kain. It was to protect him." I turned to face him, feeling that I needed to see his face with what he had to tell me.

"You make it sound like I never cared about him." He shook his head, looking slightly hurt once more.

"Did you ever give me any inclination that you did?!" I shouted, how dare he try and blame me!

"I did, plenty. Just because I was busy didn't mean I didn't love my son!"

I scoffed at that and rolled my eyes. "Well you have a funny way of showing your love."

"You may not remember this, but before he was born you couldn't feel him kicking, and it scared the living shit out of me that we had lost him. I had never been so scared in my life. I'm not perfect Ray, but do not say I didn't love my son!" He shouted, his eyes flashing dangerously.

All I could seem to do was nod, turning back to my now burnt eggs where I had to toss them and start new ones. I couldn't look at him after that, nor did I want to talk to him again since we were fighting, and it was my fault this time. I don't think it helped, me still throwing pans around as I went, but I needed to vent my anger out on something even if I was still angry with myself.

It became quiet again until Kyra came down into the kitchen, my back tensed as they talked in Russian to each other. I had barely learned the language, being with Kai and then Gabe I had tried to learn it, but it wasn't sticking as well as I thought it would have been. Soon enough Kai left us, and Kyra stepped up to me.

"Um, Ray? Is now an okay time to talk?" She asked almost in a whisper.

I turned around, giving her an apologetic smile. "Yes of course. Sorry about that, just a bit on edge."

"If this is about Dad and I going out to dinner yesterday instead of coming home, that was my idea. Dad had mentioned coming back but I wanted to have a dinner just him and I to make this Christmas time feel a bit more normal after all the changes." She said still whispering out to me, did I really make her that uncomfortable to be around?

"Oh no! It's not about that at all. Don't worry, I know things have changed a lot pretty quickly and that might be hard to adjust to. Trust me, it is for me too." I said, trying to sound happier than I actually felt.

"Is that why you've been so pissed off? Cause Kain seems pretty confused too. If Dad did something-" She started to speak, though I didn't need her to start prying either.

"So, what was it you came down for?"

"Um, well…this." She said softly again, holding up the box I had given her for Christmas.

I smiled faintly, gently taking the box from her hold. "Did you read them?" I asked softly, my heart racing in my chest.

She shook her head, looking at the floor. "I couldn't do it. The pictures already hurt to look at. I want…I want to hear it from you. I don't want to read it on a page. I want to hear you tell me what was going on and explain why you never found me." She started off still soft, slowly her voice becoming the assertive and confident one I knew she had acquired from her other father.

I motioned for her to sit at the kitchen table, waiting for her to sit down till I brought a mug of black coffee and my own tea over, placing the mug of coffee in front of her. I sat down next to her, unpacking the contents of the box all the while my heart was still beating in my chest. I sat the letters out in chronological order, picking up the one that was dated after her third birthday.

This was it, no turning back now, this was the conversation I needed with my daughter. She needed to know I hadn't abandoned her, that I still and will always love her just as I always had since she had been born.

* * *

 **Kain's POV**

"Hey, Dimi you up?" I called, knocking on his parent's door.

It took a minute, a few shuffles across the floor, and then his disheveled red-head stuck through the crack in the door.

"Morning sleeping beauty." I grinned, and he groaned.

"What time is it?"

"Like ten, gee you Russians sure like to sleep in." He rolled his eyes.

"What do you want Kain? And in case you forgot, your part Russian." He said, rubbing his eyes.

"Well Kyra's down distracting my dad, while yours and mine are back in his room." I pointed behind me at the closed door, not able to understand anything they were saying since they were speaking in Russian; so much for being part Russian when you can't understand a damn thing they're saying.

"So, it's you and me. Kyra said you can pick locks, but I don't think I'd need it but just incase I need you to come with me." I explained, and he just gave me a weird look.

"Why do you need me to pick a lock?" He asked, leaning into the door frame.

"I'm going to see if I can dig up some dirt on Gabe, keep up here Dimi." I explained rolling my eyes at him.

"Do you really need my help?"

"Yes. Now get dressed and let's go." I said back while shoving him back into the room, closing the door for him. "You have five minutes before I come in there." I joked, and his shuffling quickened, and he locked the door.

I stood waiting for him, sipping at my coffee that I had brought up for myself and then bristled when the door behind me opened.

"Kain?" Kai called, and I jerked around to look at him.

I gulped the coffee down quickly, looking as innocent as I possibly could. "Yeah?"

"What're you doing?" He asked, giving me a skeptical look.

"Waiting on Dimi."

He narrowed his eyes, it wasn't a lie though. "Behave yourself, don't need your father blowing a gasket more than he already has." He rolled his eyes at me, sounding slightly hurt.

"Just lay off him for a bit, I heard you guys arguing and stuff." I told him, and his face slightly fell at that. "I wasn't trying to eavesdrop on you two, it just happens." I told him truthfully and he nodded.

"Alright. Well still, don't go getting into trouble." He said before slipping back into his room.

I went to call him back but decided against it and just let him go. This was weird, I might not have really known him for long but seeing him look so down was hard. Part of me wanted to go back to the kitchen and smack my other father senseless till he told us what was exactly wrong, while I also wanted to go and comfort the other one who looked down right heartbroken. Before I could do any of those two options, Dimitri came out of his room finally dressed and hair combed.

"Alright, lets go. But be quiet, Kyra may have my dad's attention right now but that doesn't mean he can't hear well enough." I told him, and he nodded, though was still giving me a weird look.

I kept my ears open all the way downstairs, dad was chatting up a storm with Kyra and I was grateful for that because it meant he was too busy talking to listen to us. It was a good thing Dimitri came with me because Gabe's room was locked, which I found odd since dad has never locked a door in his life. We waited a few minutes, to see if dad would come running at us, he never did so we slipped inside the room and locked the door behind us.

I have never been in Gabe's room, and honestly, I didn't really have an idea of what it would look like, but I can say that I wasn't that shocked to see how plain it was; just like the rest of his house. His desk was to the right of the door, the blinds to the windows pulled down so we went right to work.

"Make sure to keep as quiet as possible." I warned in a whisper and Dimitri nodded while unlocking the drawers of the desk.

I decided to go over to the bed, digging under it to find a large black lock-box.

"See if there's a key for this thing in the desk." I called over my shoulder quietly, and he nodded while going through the drawer he had unlocked before tossing me a small key. "Thanks Dimi."

I heard him sigh and watched him shake his head. "Stop calling me that." He whispered out harshly, rummaging through the drawer he was stuck in.

"Why though? Not that I don't like your name or anything, but Dimitri is just… I dunno… I like Dimi better." I explained, pushing the lock box over to where the desk was so I could sit by him while going through it.

"What's wrong with my name?" He asked, looking at me as if I just offended his grandmother.

I shrugged, thumbing through some papers. "Like I said, nothing. I just like Dimi better, be funny if I can get Kyra to start calling you that." I smirked, and he blushed slightly, or he just turned red with anger, I couldn't really tell.

We fell in silence for a minute, until I had to hit his side quickly. He scowled at me but didn't say anything when I motioned for him to be quiet. My ears had perked, listening to Kyra and dad talking and I wanted to be able to hear them more.

"I felt hopeless and although I had Kain to look out for, the depression from losing you overpowered my need to look after my own son. I constantly left Kain with Max even though he was already stressed from having to take care of Stella and Matt on his own, only to go out and drink to the point I couldn't feel anything. One night it got to the point where I was standing near an overpass contemplating if it was even worth staying alive anymore. I had been abandoned by Kai, lost you and was failing miserably by Kain. I didn't feel like I was worth anything, till Max and Tyson found me."

I stopped listening at that point, Dimitri putting a hand on my shoulder as tears ran down my cheeks. I wiped them away, giving him a soft smile.

"Should get back to these." I told him, ducking back into the lock box.

It got quiet again for a minute, the only sound from either of us was the rustling of papers till Dimitri cleared his throat.

"Can Kyra hear like you can?" He asked, looking quiet interested in the topic, but of course he would be since it kind of concerned my sister.

"I think it's coming in, but I'm not sure how well. She said her sense of smell has been coming in and out, as for her hearing I'm not too sure." I told him shrugging my shoulders, placing a paper I found to be interesting on the floor beside me, I couldn't read it since it was in Russian.

"Do you like being able to hear and smell better than the rest of us?" He asked, putting aside an envelop on top of the paper I put between us.

I shrugged again. "Sometimes I like it, other times not so much." I answered. "I like being faster and more balanced, I like how my eyes do the whole slitting thing they do when I'm angry enough… Just not the headaches I get if I hold it for too long."

He nodded like he understood, glancing at another paper he had pulled out from the desk before putting it back. "Kind of cool then, your speed at least."

I laughed a bit. "Says the guy who thought he could hit me, how much money did you three lose in that bet anyways?"

He seemed to think about it then shrugged his own shoulders. "Don't remember really, I just know it was enough." He chuckled a bit while shaking his head.

"True, I know Thomas went on a major shopping spree when we got back." I laughed, closing the lock box after finding nothing else that looked important enough.

I shoved the lock box back where I had found it, going to the side table to rummage through that. Dimitri locked the drawer he had been scouring through and went to the next one, a slight gasp escaping his lips that had me rushing to his side.

"What is it?" I asked, looking over his shoulder.

He cringed, pointing at a silver band that sat at the bottom of the drawer with a few other non pg-13 things. I slightly cringed at that as well, and kicked the drawer closed.

"Let's not talk about that, _ever_." I mumbled, going back over to the side table.

He made pfft noise and gave me a look. "Please tell me that wasn't your dads ring." He bit into his lip, his cheeks puffing out as he held in his laughter.

"Fuck no, trust me he doesn't need one of those." I rolled my eyes; I thought he was the mature one here?!

His face slightly fell. "How do you know that?" He asked, even though it looked like he really didn't want to know.

I shrugged. "He doesn't lock doors behind him." I said, hoping he'd get the idea of what I was saying, and he had to cover his mouth before he completely lost it. "Keep it down before you give us away." I hissed at him and he nodded, going to the next set of drawers on the other side of the desk.

I rolled my eyes, going through the side table I had been previously distracted from.

"Hey Kain?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are all these papers in Russian?" He asked.

"Gabe is Russian." I answered and turned to look at him as he sat down a stack of papers down on the floor.

"Are you serious?" His face fell and he slightly paled.

"Yeah… Why?" I asked. Now it was my turn to give him a weird look.

Once again it looked like he was about to lose it. "My fathers and Kai have been saying so much shit about him in Russian, oh god that's hysterical! We didn't know." He laughed, quickly covering his mouth once he realized how loud he had just been.

I wanted to laugh with him, wishing that I could understand Russian, so I knew what they had been saying. "That is funny, you'll have to tell me later what you guys have said about him."

"Yeah, of course." Dimitri chuckled, turning back to the desk once more.

"Shit." I mumbled, pulling out my own stack of papers that I felt looked slightly off. "We gotta go, Gabe's home."

Dimitri nodded, slamming the desk drawer closed and snatched up the pile of papers on the floor by his feet. I took up my stack, ears perking at the front door opening and realizing we had to head out back as to not get caught.

"C'mon, this way." I motioned to the back door that led to the small private balcony, Dimitri nodded following after me with his stack of papers tucked under his arm.

We slipped out of Gabe's room as the front door closed, Dimitri and I jumped the railing, since there was no stairwell down; whoever designed that flaw should have been fired in my opinion.

"What do we do with these?" He asked, once we were safely away from being found out.

"Hand them to me, I'll put them in my room and come back out here." I explained, holding out my arms for him.

He rose a red brow at me but did as I said anyways. I thanked him with a nod of my head and ran at the second-floor balcony, jumping up onto it and disappearing into the house quickly.

"I thought I'd come back and we could spend the day together and look over wedding details since I've been gone so much lately. I just have to make a phone call and we can get started." I heard Gabe lamely explain to dad and Kyra downstairs, while I headed for my bedroom.

"But Gabe, Kyra and I were just." Dad started, getting interrupted yet again by Gabe.

"I'm just not sure when else we'll be able to get these details finalized. Kyra doesn't mind, right Kyra?" How dare he break up their bonding! If it wasn't for Dimitri waiting for me back outside, I would have gone in their and beat the bastard senseless.

I blocked them out after that, hurrying in my task to get the papers in my room and back outside and inside before my dad caught onto the fact that he hadn't been hearing us for the past hour or so. Once the papers had been safely tucked between the mattresses of my bed, I headed back out to the balcony and jumped over the railing, landing in front of Dimitri.

"I'll admit, that's pretty cool." He said, and I smirked at him.

"Thanks, Kyra can do it now to. Well, she jumped the landing on Christmas."

"No, you pushed her." He narrowed his eyes and I shrugged at him.

"Same thing." I said, leading him back to the house while he shook his head at me. "Thanks, by the way."

"For?" He rose a brow at me again, stopping on the stairs up to the back porch.

I shrugged my shoulders at him again. "For being there for her all these years. I mean, I know we didn't really know about the other one until recently, but I'm glad she didn't grow up alone."

His eyes widened slightly, and he blushed, this time I could tell it was a genuine blush. "No problem…" He said, while rubbing the back of his head.

"Really need to do something about you two getting together." I said, and he bristled.

"Stick your nose in someone else's business." He bit out trying to smack me in the arm, missing as I dodged it.

"C'mon Dimi, are you really trying to hit me again? You know you can't, and you know you can't keep denying you love my sister." I smirked at him and he looked away, the blush increasing along his cheeks.

"Shut up Hiwatari…" He growled, his eyes going wider at that. I smirked, knowing he would call Kyra that when he was upset with her, but still in a playful mood.

"Just saying, its getting annoying watching you two dance around each other... why haven't you done anything about it?" I asked.

"I... I don't want to mess things up." He mumbled, looking away from me.

"Oh... You know that's what a relationship is. Right? Its not perfect, take me for example." I tried to lighten the mood by a laugh, but he just rolled his eyes at me and shook his head.

"It's different. You have the rest of your team and probably other friends. I just have Kyra and Sven. I've known her since I was born, and she knows me better than anyone else. I can't risk losing one of the only people outside of my parents that I'm close to." He said a bit more confidently, looking me in the eyes again.

"Then who else better, than someone like that to be by your side for the rest of your lives?" I asked, and he took a minute before answering me again.

"But if I screw it up then I risk losing her. She's the closest to perfect I've seen, and I just know with my luck that I'd mess it up some how. Plus, she's never indicated that she likes me that way. She dated that sleazy guy and has always seemed to look every other way but mine."

"How blind are you?" I asked and smacked him on the arm, which he promptly turned and glared at me. "Dude, you have no clue how head over heels she is for your red head!"

He blinked at me, rubbing his arm where I had hit him. "Wait, what?"

I had to smack my own forehead at that. He looked completely dumbfounded. "Good lord man... You're hopeless. Both of you!"

"I swear I've always seen her looking at other people when I've looked at her..." He mumbled.

"That's cus you're looking. It's a thing girls do, don't ask me why. Least the ones I've been with. But seriously, step up man. Do something or she really will be looking at others for real." I warned, and he seemed to understand but still looked unsure.

"I don't even know what to say. Or how to bring it up."

"Hm... Dunno... I'll think of something for you, maybe I can get her to crack…." As I was talking an idea hit me and I grinned at him almost evilly. "Wanna ruffle her feathers and hold my hand when we go in?"

His nose scrunched, and he took a step away from me. "No thank you. Not the Hiwatari I want to hold my hand."

"What a kill-joy. You two are no fun. Sven would hold my hand." I fake pouted at him.

He only sighed at me, shaking his head. "At least none of us have hit on our own sister."

I bristled at that and actually pouted at him. "Kind of hard for you to, since you don't have one... and please... do not talk about that..."

"I guess being an only child has its perks in that sense. Never going to let you live that one down." He gave me his own evil smirk.

"Ah yes, the days when I was secretly an only child... Wasn't that amazing. Oh, come on! It's bad enough she told my father and I had to have a very awkward conversation with him! Out of all the conversations we had at dinner, that one I remember." I told him, my voice on the verge of cracking into pleading.

"Honestly amazed Kyra's doing so well with a sibling. If you'd seen her with Kai, you would've thought she couldn't be anything but an only child. Kai's face was priceless. I think he was just glad he didn't have another guy knocking at his door."

"Probably had practice with you and Sven around so much, and I'm not that bad. Yeah... please, lets just drop that. For now, I don't think my dad knows, and I don't want him to know." I shuddered at the idea of my dad knowing I had originally wanted to date my own sister. Thinking about it now it gives me the chills.

He smirked at me again, slightly looking like the devil himself. "Fine, on one condition."

"Okay…"

"Stop calling me Dimi!"

I pouted at him, what a low blow. "Fine… You're no fun." I said, finishing the trek up the stairs and to the back door of the kitchen.

Dad raised his brow, looking directly at me. "I didn't hear the two of you leave. Where were you?" Gee, nice seeing you too father.

"Oh, we just went out to the lake to get some blading in. Dimitri was teaching me how to use the new blade that the old man got me for Christmas." I explained, then pretended to hear Gabe in the house. "Gabe's home?" I asked innocently.

Dad nodded. "Yes, he didn't end up having to go into work so we're going to finish some of the wedding planning today. Please don't cause too much trouble." Why is it that both of my fathers think I'm always getting in trouble?

"Wouldn't dream of it. Hey Kyra, want to come join Dimitri and I and play Xbox?" I asked, raising a brow and hoping she'd get the hint that I was trying to get us out of the kitchen.

"Sure. I'll talk with you later, Pa-I mean, Ray." Her cheeks flushed. What was that about?

Dad looked shocked, what for I don't know, just nodding in a bewildered response as I decided to take Kyra's hand and lead her upstairs as Dimitri followed along. I took them to Kai's room, said old man sitting on the edge of the bed as Tala sat at the desk in front of a laptop with Bryan standing behind him, looking over his shoulder.

"So, we found some information but that can wait for now. Gabe is on the phone and when I tried to listen in I couldn't understand him. It sounds like he's speaking some sort of other language or something." I said quickly, shutting the door behind us quickly.

Kyra looked at me, a smirk on her lips. "You may not understand him, but I can. He's speaking Russian."

"Well duh, he's Russian." I explained, and she looked just as shocked at Dimitri had been when I told him. "What's he saying then?" I asked, and now the adults in the room seemed interested in what was going on.

"No, he doesn't know anything yet. Yes, I just got the final check in the account today. Love you too.' That's all I can make out, it's coming in and out." She said after a moment of silence, looking slightly upset.

"Hey, it's alright you're still getting used to this." I told her, trying to hide the fact that I was burning inside.

"Who would he be talking to?" Tala asked, looking around at us.

"Sounds like the guy he's cheating on dad with." I explained, and then glanced at my other father to see his eyes flash dangerously. "We found some stuff too, wait here." I said quickly, dashing out of the room to mine and back with the papers Dimitri and I found.

"I can't read this, I don't know Russian, but they looked important." I explained, setting everything down on the bed.

Immediately the three adults and Kyra picked up the papers, looking through them quickly while I stood back. Kyra glanced over at me and Dimitri, a frown on her lips.

"Thank you Dimka for getting these." Dimka?! And he was upset for me calling him Dimi?

"What do they say?" I asked, choosing to ignore the nickname… For now.

"Nothing good." Kai answered, and I could hear the anger in his tone. "You were right… About everything it seems."

"Damn…" I muttered. "They're downstairs talking about the final preparations for the wedding… If he's cheating on dad, why would he want to marry him?"

Bryan held out a paper to Kai. "This is why." He said, Kai snatched the paper from him quickly and he scowled harder; if that was possible.

"He's been after Ray's money all along… Kain when did you say they got together?" Kai asked me.

"When I was ten, he was my doctor."

"I think, with you having my last name, he knew who you were." Kai said in a huff, sitting on the edge of the bed with the same paper still in his hand as he looked over it again.

"What's on the paper?" I asked a bit timidly.

"Life insurance papers, on you and Ray… It's not signed yet, it's just a draft of what he could be receiving if something happened to you two." I felt a cold chill run down my spine, not liking the sound of that at all.

"Dad!" Kyra exclaimed, having taken up the desk and laptop Tala had been on previously. I hadn't even noticed she had moved, Kai got up and went over and stood behind her.

"It says here, that Gabe hasn't been a doctor for four years. He was fired due to malpractice… Where has he been going all this time, if he hasn't had a job?" Kyra said, looking at the article she had brought up.

"My question is how we didn't know about this, what's the date on the article?" I asked, coming to the other side of the desk.

"It was published in June." She explained, looking at me with sad eyes.

"That explains it then, we weren't in Japan in June. We all went on vacation to China for my birthday that year…" I mumbled, frowning hard.

"Kai, these are the bank statements for Ray's restaurant." Tala called quietly from the bed. "That account we found on the papers Ray gave us, it's the same account on these." He sighed with a shake of his head. "Fucking bastard…" He growled out.

"That's it, I've heard enough." Kai growled out as well, straightening himself up as he headed for the door.

I jumped in front of him, already able to tell he was ready to go and kill Gabe for what he was doing to dad. Kai narrowed his eyes, while everyone else gave me a questioning look.

"Kain, move."

"He won't believe you, he can't read these or understand them." I explained.

"What about this article?" Kyra asked, standing up and looking ready to beat Gabe just the same as our father.

"The last name is different; didn't you see that?" I said, pointing at the computer screen and she seemed to calm down. "Trust me, I want to kill him just as much, but dad is not going to believe us."

"We have to try." Kai said, looking more pissed at me for still standing in his way.

"Go ahead, but if he's still pissed at you for god knows what, I doubt he'll listen at all." I explained.

"What if I try?" Kyra asked. "We seemed to bond downstairs well enough."

"Everyone can go and try, but I promise you he won't budge." I said, side stepping away from the door. "Go ahead, see what happens." Nobody moved. "Thought so."

"Then what do we do?" Tala asked.

I thought over our options, we had just a few days left before the wedding to get my dad to believe us and the things we found out.

"Translate the papers to English?" I suggested. "That way he can understand them… We can tail Gabe tomorrow when he 'goes to work', to see where it is he is actually going. I'll see if I can get some of dad's money back into his account." At that a few brows rose at me. "I might have hacked the BBA's bank account on accident once…" I explained.

"They're going to the venue on Saturday." Kai said, and I nodded.

"We'll go; Kyra and I since dad asked you if she could. I have a few ideas for what we can do while there."

"What if we can't get this 'evidence' in time?" Tala asked.

"Then Kai can just kill Gabe." I explained, getting a chorus of sighs and eye rolls. "Or Bryan can." I shrugged. "Since he tried killing dad when he was a teenager."

"Been a while since I've done something worth while." Bryan chuckled, getting hit in the shoulder by his husband.

"Sound good then?" I asked, getting a nod from everyone as a response. "Good."

* * *

That night I was more on edge than I had ever been, every time Gabe came around I couldn't help but tense. I stuck by my dad all night, helped him with dinner, if he went to one room I followed. He didn't seem to mind, since he didn't say anything to me, but I felt that if I looked away he would have just up a disappeared. If anyone else noticed, they didn't say either, until Kyra and I were ready to go to bed.

She had just come from the bathroom, while I had just come up from the first-floor and she called me over to her.

"Everything alright Kain?" She asked, her crimson eyes looking over me quickly.

"Yeah, everything's fine." I smiled, though I don't think she took it. "It's late, so I'm just gonna head to bed. Thanks for everything tonight sis, I'll see you in the morning." I turned to my bedroom door, waving over my shoulder hoping we were done here.

"I have to ask, why were you following Ray around so closely at dinner? You're acting like he's gonna disappear at any second." She continued, and I inwardly sighed.

"You noticed that, hu? Don't be mad, but I heard you two talking. I knew he had suicidal thoughts when you were gone, but not to that extent... Then with Gabe's possible plan to kill us off... I just couldn't leave him alone." I explained shyly, rubbing the back of my head.

She gave me a look of sympathy. "He's okay now though. I doubt Gabe would try something before the wedding. That would just be dumb of him."

"I know... It just really set something off in me that I had to stick by him." I explained, hoping she wouldn't think me weird; well more than she already thought me to be.

"Well he'll be okay. Especially now that he has all of us looking out for him."

I smiled at that, of course I was acting over the top about this all. "I know, and I'm really grateful for that. So, thanks for convincing dad to come...and... all..." I stuttered out, biting my lip and praying she didn't notice my slip up.

A faint smile spread along her lips. "No problem. Thanks for getting me to finally talk to Ray. I needed that..." Since she didn't bring up my slip, I was going to just ignore it as well.

"No problem, glad you two finally got to sit down and fix stuff. You did fix stuff, right?" I rose a brow, finding my own dumbass smile come to my lips.

"I think for the most part. I think it would've been better if Gabe wouldn't have interrupted." She scowled at that, and that caused me to scowl as well.

"Yeah... That seriously pissed me off. Sorry about that. Oh, by the way. When Dimitri and I got back in, what was that stuttering all about?"

"I... I almost called him Papa. Kind of just started to come out of my mouth until I realized what I was doing and stopped myself." She looked at the floor, as if she was embarrassed.

"Oh... Why did you stop?"

"It feels weird still. Calling a man who I barely know and who barely knows me my father is strange. One of the only things I remember from when he was around though was that I called him that. Ray was Papa and Dad was always Daddy." She explained bit more confident, and I nodded in understanding.

"I can understand that... I called the old man father yesterday... Was a bit weird... I think I remember I used to call dad Papa though, when I was younger and just started calling him Dad when I got older."

She nodded, and then shook her head a bit as if she wasn't sure about herself anymore. "I'm not sure if I'm ready for it to be at that level yet. Besides, who knows what will happen when we go back to Russia."

My eyes widened, hoping she didn't notice. "Yeah... Back to Russia..." I mumbled. I had completely forgotten about them going back, just because they were here now didn't mean they were going to be here forever.

"What?"

"Nothing, I just forgot that you guys have to go back." I rubbed the back of my head again; damn nervous twitch of mine. "I'll see you in the morning." I smiled again, hoping to fool her a bit.

"Alright...if something's wrong you can tell me. You know that, right?" She shifted, as if she was going to touch my shoulder but never did.

"Yeah, it's nothing really." I shrugged.

"Okay...goodnight." She looked upset for some reason, going to her own bedroom door next to mine.

"Night sis... Love ya!" I smirked, watching her shake her head after bristling a bit.

She laughed, a genuine laugh and shook her head at me. "We've gotten to that level, hmm?"

"Well fine. Don't love your only brother, I won't take it personal or anything." I fake pouted.

"Love you too." She smiled, and I could tell she had meant what she said.

"See, knew you did." I smiled again, fang and all.

"Yeah, yeah. Goodnight." She shook her head again, a chuckle passing he lips.

"What're you two doing up?" Kai asked coming over to us from outside.

I smirked at him. " Professing our undying love to one another."

Kai looked between Kyra and me then smiled at us. "I didn't realize you two were at that level yet."

"Neither did I. A spur of the moment decision." Kyra piped up, laughing slightly.

I couldn't help but pout at both of them. "Fine, I see how it is. Nobody loves me." I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

Kyra laughed and jabbed me in the side, while Kai simply shook his head.

"You two need to get some sleep, I'll see you in the morning." He said while turning on his heel, going down the hall to his room.

"Night dad." Kyra called, frowning slightly when all he did was nod at her while slipping into his room. "Night Kain." She said, going into her own room before I could say anything back.

I felt weird after that, for a moment Kyra and I were having a good time and then our father comes in still looking heartbroken and smelling like smoke as if he was a chimney. I did some debating, and finally coming up with an idea, I just went into my room and dressed into my night clothes, which meant Matt's shirt and my red pj bottoms. Snatching the quilt off my bed I went back out into the hall, gently knocking on Kyra's door.

"Kain?" She called.

"The one and only… Can I come in?" I was half expecting her to tell me to go away, or ask why but instead she just told me to come in.

She rose a brow at me, looking at the quilt in my arms and the fact the shirt I was wearing was slightly falling off my shoulder.

"What's going on?" She asked.

I shrugged again. "Do you mind?"

"No. C'mon." She smiled, making room on the bed for me to lay down beside her.

We laid there for a while, looking up at the ceiling in the darkness. I wanted to talk to her, maybe get her to convince our father to stay here in Japan for a while longer, but instead I didn't say a thing. I liked the quiet and the peace, figuring she did too as she didn't make a sound at all. Soon enough we fell asleep, and it was the best sleep I've had since being at Gabe's.


	24. Chapter 24: Update

**Just a quick update for this fic, Misfit is on vacation and so we're uploading our spin-off fic to this for a filler type deal. This story is NOT being discontinued, we are still working on everything to get the ending out. Just wanted to let everyone here who has been following and reviewing know what's going on, which we both really appreciate you all for; so thank you so much for those! The spin-off fic is called the Making Of, and it will feature the start of the rise and fall of Kai and Ray's relationship, as well as a small inside look to Tala and Bryan's lives and then the children's (Kyra, Dimitri, Kain, and Matthew.) But those won't be posted until after The Parent Trap is complete. Unlike this fic, it is rated M because we put in lemons (sex scenes) but I have divided them up for those who don't wish to read those parts. (Each chapter will include a Lemon, just as a heads up to those who maybe interested in reading this spin-off.)**

 **Once again, thank you all who have followed, favorited, and reviewed this fic. Until next time!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Kyra's POV**

I blinked my eyes in confusion as I woke up, being awoken by an unfamiliar noise happening in the room. It sounded like purring but was as loud as a motor boat. Kain didn't bring his kitten in here last night, did he? I looked to my side to see the noise was coming from my brother, who was curled up on the other side of the bed with his quilt drawn up to his face and my hair splayed out on his pillow, as well as around me. I really hoped that purring wasn't going to be the next new thing that I picked up.

I sighed, nudging Kain to wake him up. "Hey, we need to get up if we're starting your plan today."

He stirred, blinking and giving out a sigh as he sat up. "What?"

"You know, the plan to expose dirt bag while figuring out how our dads feel about each other?"

"Oh right, that." He yawned.

I shook my head, pushing myself off the bed to go get my clothes for the day.

"Why was this on my face?" He questioned, staring at the strand with a brow raised.

"I guess my hair went on you when we were asleep." I shrugged as I grabbed a black knit sweater out of my suitcase.

"Ew. Why do you leave it out when you're sleeping? Wouldn't it be easier if you braided it or something?" He suggested as he came over to join me.

"It would if I could braid. Never learned how. Dad tried to learn when I was a kid, but it ended in him putting a knot in my hair so big that he had to take me to the salon to fix it. Never let him try to do anything other than brush my hair after that fiasco." I smirked, shaking my head at the memory of Dad's face as my eyes filled up with tears while staring at the rat's nest he'd created on my head. "Since then I've never really had any friends who were girls to teach me, but I like having it long, so I just learned to deal with it." I explained, a slight grin on both our faces.

"Damn, the old man really can't do much, can he? Dad taught me how to braid his hair when I was four. I know I'm not a girl, but I could teach you?" He offered, trying to touch my hair before I spun around quickly to bring my clothes to the bed.

"It's fine. Plus, I think we have more important things to worry about than my lack of ability to braid hair. What exactly is the plan today?"

"I was thinking you and Dimi tail Gabe and see where he goes while I try and get back some of the money the dirt bag has stolen? I mean, you drive, right?" He asked, eyebrow raised.

"Yeah. Dad doesn't really like me driving the sports cars, but I can drive." I shrugged.

"Good. You see what you can find out by seeing where the hell he goes when he's at 'work' and I'll go and attempt to hack this account." He grinned.

I gave a nod, starting to make my way to the bathroom with my clothes as I tossed my messy bed head over my shoulder.

"You know, you really should let me, or Dad braid your hair. It would be so much more convenient." He called after me.

"Shut up and get ready so we can get this plan on the road. I'm going to shower, and you go get Dimitri up." I called back, closing the bathroom door to allow myself the first bit of alone time I'd had in days.

As much as it was nice to have a sibling to talk to and hang around with, it was a bit draining to have someone around all the time when I'd always been alone before. I stripped my pajamas off, turned the shower on and stepped in, allowing myself to be enveloped in the white noise of the water splashing down on me.

After dressing and drying my hair, I came down the stairs to be greeted by a full kitchen. Ray was cooking omelets and bacon while Gabe stood near, not noticing that Kain was sitting at the breakfast bar glaring at him as he ate cereal beside a very cranky looking Dimitri. Dad, Bryan and Tala were sitting at the table, talking amongst themselves in English now that they knew Gabe could understand them.

I approached the two boys, giving Dimitri a smirk as he looked up at me with tired eyes. "Someone's not happy about being up early."

"I would've been fine if your psychotic brother hadn't had jumped on me to wake me up. I already hate being up this early and he decides to almost give me a heart attack at seven am." He muttered.

"Hey, at least you didn't wake up to purring in your ear." I countered.

"Purring?" He cocked his head.

"It's a long story. By the way, how are you going to perform our secret operation in that?" I sighed, motioning to his all white ensemble.

I never knew why but both Tala and Dimitri had this thing about dressing all white or close to it. Like now for example, Dimitri was wearing a pair of white skinny jeans and a white knit sweater.

"What's wrong with this? I look good." He frowned.

I bit my lip, trying to hold back what I had to say. He did look good. His sweater fit well, showing off his muscle he'd been working so hard to build, his shoulder length hair tied back as usual with a few strands hanging by his face. He looked gorgeous.

"You stand out. Your hair already gives you away. All white is going to make you so visible."

He nodded. "Right. I'll be back." He stood up, dashing up the stairs quickly.

Kain smirked, looking from where Dimitri had walked out back to me. "Wow, smooth move sis. I saw that pause."

"Shut up." I sighed, sitting down on the other side of him to have an omelet and coffee placed in front of me by Ray.

"Wow, everyone's up so early today! What for?" He asked, looking between the two of us.

"Dress shopping. I realized I didn't bring anything fancy enough for the wedding, so I was going to go pick something out with Dimitri." I said quickly, Kain nodding along with my response.

"And I have some school stuff that's due after the break. Thought I'd get it done while they're shopping." He lied.

Ray smiled. "Sounds like a productive day. It seems it's going to just be your father, Bryan and Tala here with me then."

"Oh, we're actually going out today. Apparently, Bryan is deciding to try and be romantic by surprising me with a date day. It would just be nice if I knew where we were going." Tala spoke as he put his dishes in the sink, giving a side eye to Bryan.

"You realize that's the point of a surprise, right Papa? To not know where you're going?" Dimitri sighed as he came in again. He'd switched into an all-black outfit consisting of a pair of black skinny jeans and a black turtle neck that looked to be Bryan's by the slight bagginess.

"That's beside the point. Why are you wearing your father's shirt?" He questioned, cocking his brow.

"No reason." Dimitri blushed.

Ray looked at the three of us, glancing over at Dad as we discussed possible ideas of what the date day could be. It was obvious he was having some worries about being alone with Dad just from the look on his face and the way he kept shifting closer to Gabe. Could he be worried about what could happen if they're alone? I looked between the two, debating if I should say anything before Kain distracted me.

"Hey, are you really going to go dress shopping with your hair everywhere like that? Honestly, just let me do something with it." He huffed, trying to reach out for my hair again before I slid out of his reach.

"It's fine, just leave it. It's never been braided up to this point and it's been fine. If it's in my way, I'll just put it up."

"Hey Dad, wanna braid Kyra's hair? She won't let me, and it looks bad." Wow little brother, way to insult me while trying to get your way.

"Oh Kain, your sister looks fine. Though, I could do a simple braid if you'd like? It wouldn't take very long." He suggested, looking at me with almost pleading eyes.

I could tell he was looking for more ways to connect with me and saying no would probably do more damage than I wanted, so I found myself giving a nod and following him as he lead me to sit near Dad at the table and instructed Kain to go get a brush and hair ties.

As he brushed my hair, I noticed Dad looking over at us and giving a soft smile.

"This is already going a lot better than your attempt, hmm Dad?" I smirked.

"It's been eleven years. Are you really not over it yet?" Dad sighed, putting his head in his hand.

"Over what?" Ray questioned.

"When I was six, my hair had gotten to the middle of my back and was starting to become a problem when I'd run around at school. It would get really tangled up and I got made fun of by some of the kids because of it. Dad saw how upset it was making me and tried his hand at learning how to braid, only to cause a huge rats nest of hair to form from his many failed attempts. It was so bad he had to take me to a salon for someone there to fix it. After that I pretty much forbid him from doing anything more than brushing my hair." I explained.

"Well, nice to know not much has changed since our teens. I think the one time you tried to put my hair up for me you got it stuck in the elastic." Ray chuckled, causing Dad to sigh and shake his head.

"Hey, at least you're good at some things Dad. I seem to remember you building that really cool tree house for my seventh birthday. Plus, you taught me how to play piano even though it took a year just to teach me how to play decently." I reminded as Ray began the braiding process.

"Sounds like you two have a lot of good memories together…" Ray spoke softly, causing Dad to look over with a look of sympathy.

"Yeah, lots of historic landmark tours, blading in the park, Dad calling out any boys who underestimated me. But now we all get to create new memories together." I smiled at Dad, him giving a nod with a hopeful smile back.

Just as I heard Ray about to respond, Gabe walked up to us, looking like he was about to leave. "I'm off to work, love. I'll see you tonight." He spoke, giving Ray a kiss on the cheek before turning to walk out of the house.

"Oh, okay. Have a good day." Ray said plainly, keeping his focus on my hair. Well that was an unemotional response from someone who was getting married in a week. Maybe I was right in thinking Ray was having some mixed feelings between Kai and Gabe.

Soon after Gabe's departure, I rushed Ray to finish my hair, saying that Dimitri and I wanted to head out early so we could explore Japan a little bit more. But before the two of us headed out, I felt I had to let Dad know what I felt was going on to see if he could finally act on the feelings I knew he'd been having since our arrival in Japan.

"Oh Dad? Can you come here for a second? I need to ask you about the new rental car." I asked, motioning towards the door. Dad had been pretty smart in getting a new rental car for this stake out mission. Gabe already knew what the rental car the five of us came here in looked like, so he had paid someone to bring one right after Gabe left and had it passed off as Dimitri and I needing another car while Tala and Bryan took the original rental.

Dad stood up from his spot, following me out the door to where the car was parked with Dimitri waiting inside.

"You really need to ask about the car when this is the exact model we have at home?" He questioned, motioning to the black sports car parked beside us.

"No. I thought I'd let you know that I think I know why Ray is being so passive aggressive with you. Not sure how no one else has noticed, but he keeps moving away from you and was looking really worried when he heard the two of you would be alone. Then he barely acknowledged Gabe's leaving. Dad, I think he has stronger feelings for you than you think." I explained.

He shook his head in disbelief. "No. Why would he be acting like he's mad at me if he still had feelings for me?"

"I don't know, to make you think he doesn't like you so he doesn't act on anything? If he drives you away, it gives him no way to act on anything." I suggested with a shrug.

"So why are you telling me all this?" He asked, his brow arching in confusion.

"Because I know you have feelings for him too. Dad, I see the way you look at him and the way you smile. I've only ever seen that smile towards me. That's your 'true love' smile. You can deny it all you want, but I know you never fell out of love with him and that's the reason you've been with all these guys throughout the years. I don't want to see you hurting anymore and I think you should tell him how you feel." I insisted, putting my hands on my hips.

"Kyra, he's getting married." He sighed.

"Yeah, to a man who's not who he says he is and is trying to steal his money. We're trying to expose this creep and break them up anyways. Maybe saying something will give him the push he needs to be honest with himself too. I just want what's best for you Dad, and from what I've seen, being with Ray is what's best for you."

He frowned, looking me straight in the eyes. "You really want me to do this?"

"Yes. I do. Now, I'm going to go expose this liar for what he is and when I come back I hope to hear you've had some emotional talks and he's leaving Gabe for you." I smirked, starting to walk to the driver's seat door.

"Kyra?" He called.

"Yeah?"

"Drive safe and thank you for looking out for me." He smiled, turning to walk back inside.

"What are daughters for?" I grinned, climbing into the car and starting the engine.

Thankfully we had left soon enough after Gabe that we could still see his white Mercedes but follow at a distance. Kain had given us the address of the hospital he supposedly worked at, that way we could follow him and see if he was actually heading there or was somewhere else like we had predicted. As we drove along, it was obvious Gabe was not heading to the hospital by the amount our GPS kept trying to correct us and get us to turn around.

"Well, Kain was right about one thing. He definitely isn't going to work when he says he is. Where the hell is he taking us?" I questioned while keeping my eyes on the road. We had been driving for about half an hour and there was still no indication that Gabe would be stopping since we were still on a highway.

"No clue, but here's hoping it's not into a death trap." Dimitri responded as he fiddled around with the GPS.

"I doubt Kain would send us after him if he thought our lives were at stake. He's finally getting off the highway now anyways." I spoke as I merged lanes, trying to follow as closely as I could, but still keeping one or two cars in between us.

We continued on for another half hour through a small city's streets till Gabe parked in front of a café. I parked across the street, rolling the windows down a bit in order for us to see and hear what was going on if we had to. Thankfully Dad had gotten a car with tinted windows, so we could see out, but no one could really see in. I slid on my sunglasses, trying to do my best to be unrecognizable just in case Gabe looked over as he got out of the car.

"Really? Sunglasses?" Dimitri smirked.

"Oh, shut up. How often do we get to do something like this?" I shot back with a laugh.

"True. It looks like he's going in. Maybe he's just getting coffee?" He suggested.

"Or meeting with someone?"

"That too. Hey, so I never really got to ask, what's your take on Kain's idea of getting your parents back together?" He asked.

I shrugged, keeping my eyes on the café. "Whatever makes Dad happy. If Ray makes him happy, sure, I'll accept it. If it's going to hurt him more than it's worth, I'd say no."

"Well I'm more asking if it's the right thing for you. I know you haven't always enjoyed having a single parent, especially when we were younger, and those kids bullied you…"

I sat up a bit, not really wanting to be reminded of the tormenting of my childhood. Although we were quite popular in high school, I had gotten picked on a lot in the beginning of my school age years for only having a single father. It didn't matter to the other kids that I was the daughter of Kai Hiwatari, it was weird that I only had one parent when everyone else had two. Not that it bothered me as I got older, but as a child I felt confused and upset on why Dad had stayed, and Ray had left. I couldn't ever say I really did have two parents since there was one I never saw or heard from.

"I don't know. Dad is all I've known since I was four. Your parents are more like parents to me than Ray is right now. I think if things were to start off slow I'd be fine but if things get serious really fast…" I spoke, my words getting lost until Dimitri responded with my thoughts.

"It would be like too much too soon. I get it. Speaking of going slow, I was talking to Kain yesterday and there's something I want to talk to you about." He answered, seeming determined before I spotted Gabe coming out the café.

"It's going to have to wait until later cause Gabe's on the move and there's someone with him." I shot back.

I focused my eyes on Gabe and the new man he had brought out with him. He was a man a few years younger than my fathers, short brown hair that wasn't styled very well, dressed like a commoner. My eyes widened as I saw Gabe kiss the man before letting him into the car and starting to drive away.

"He's cheating on my father with a commoner? He isn't even attractive. I mean, not that Gabe is very attractive either, but at least he doesn't look so… Average."

"Uh, aren't Ray and Kain technically considered commoners?" Dimitri asked meekly.

"Not when they're associated with us they're not. Now let's figure out where the hell he's going cause it's extremely obvious it's not work now." I growled, starting the car and flying down the street after the men.

After about twenty minutes more of driving, we ended up following them to a familiar location, Ray's restaurant.

"Hey, isn't this Ray's restaurant that we were at the other day?" Dimitri questioned.

I nodded. "I have a feeling this isn't just a pleasant visit either." I pulled over across the road, hidden enough that they couldn't see us, but we had a good view of them.

The two of us watched for a few minutes as Gabe and the mystery man got out of the car and started to converse with one of the construction workers that was standing outside. It wasn't long until we saw the new man hand one of the construction workers a sledge hammer and gesture to one of the visible pipes outside. The construction worker began pounding on the pipe, causing water to spill out everywhere surrounding as Gabe and his side man smirked while watching. I quickly pulled out my phone, starting to record so I'd have evidence to bring back and show the others. After a significant amount of damage had been done to the pipes, the three men went inside the restaurant.

"It's them. They're the reason there's so many problems with the restaurant." I spoke as I stopped the recording.

Dimitri nodded. "It must be their plan. Get Ray to put money in to fix every damage, just to drain him of any funds he has. The real question is, what are they going to do when Ray has nothing left?"

I frowned. "I don't know, but I really do not want to find out." I quickly unclicked my seat belt and reached into the back of the car, grabbing my purse and starting to search through it.

"Um…what are you doing?" Dimitri questioned, his brow raised in confusion.

I held up a tracker that I had snagged from Bryan when no one had been looking. "This. Cover me." I said quickly as I threw open the car door and broke out into a sprint. I didn't know how long they would be in the restaurant, but I knew I had to get the tracker on the car as fast as I could. I might not get another shot like this again.

I darted up to the car, sliding into a crouch right near the driver's door while reaching my hand with the tracker in it under the car to stick it to the bottom. As I made sure it was secure, I could hear muffled voices starting to become clearer. It didn't sound like they were going to come out, but they were getting closer to the door, which meant I had to get the hell back in the car as fast as I could. Just as I heard a hand start to turn the door handle I sprinted back to the car, going as fast as my legs could take me in heeled boots. Why did I have to choose fashion over practicality for a stake out? I threw myself in the car, slamming the door and drove a few miles away before stopping on the side of the road to finally catch my breath.

"You're insane, Hiwatari. You could have gotten in deep shit if you got caught." Dimitri sighed, running his hands through the front of his hair.

I held my gaze on him for a moment, admiring how good he looked in that moment before snapping back into reality with a scoff. "Oh please, we both know I wouldn't have gotten caught. Besides, we now have one way to keep tabs on him all the time. Next step is the phone bug. Now that one will be hard."

He smirked and shook his head. "You'd think you were a secret spy in a previous life with all of these plans you have."

"Nope. Just happened to learn a lot about security and bugging from a certain uncle that also happens to be your father."

"Ugh, don't remind me. Sometimes I wonder if that's how Dad and Papa always seem to have tabs on me." He sighed.

"Probably. They're just showing they care though. I mean, we did crash a car into a lake and almost die. I think they have the right." I laughed.

He smiled at me for a moment, causing both of us to pause and just stare at each other. Talking to him like this, one on one, just felt so easy. Everything with Dimitri was just so easy. Could dating be just as easy?

"Kyra…I-" He began, trying to take hold of my hand before I moved away to put both hands on the steering wheel.

I looked away, my face getting warm. "We better get to the mall. We told Ray we were getting a dress and it'll look weird if we come back without one."

"Oh…yeah, sure." He said softly, resting his back against the seat once more.

I knew what he was trying to do but I couldn't let it get that far. As much as I wanted to admit to him that I had the same feelings he did, I couldn't imagine losing him if things didn't work out. I'd rather have him as a friend and not a lover than as a lover and lose him for good. That was just how things had to be.

* * *

 **Kai's POV**

I sat in silence in my room, going over what my daughter had said. Could she really think that Ray still had feelings for me after all this time? There hadn't yet been a point where I'd seen Kyra get an inference like that wrong, but part of me was still in disbelief. How could he even feel anything like that towards me after all that I'd done? I'd promised her that I would try to address it with him, but it was seeming harder than intended with the way he would dodge my presence. First it was leaving the kitchen right after everyone had cleared out, then it was completely turning off the TV and leaving the living room the minute I had stepped foot in there. He'd even come to go outside but immediately turned on his heel and went back in as soon as he saw me having a cigarette outside the back door. If his plan was to get me irritated enough with him that I would avoid him, he was doing a damn good job of it because I was getting tired of this game.

I'd been going over some of the translations of the documents when I overheard Ray's voice outside the bedroom door.

"What? How could a pipe have suddenly burst? You said everything would be fine and plumbing would go in smoothly. Well, yes, I know accidents happen, but I don't understand how your company keeps making mistakes. You keep saying it's the building but I just don't-" Ray argued, giving a sigh before speaking again. "Fine, I'll transfer the money over as soon as I can. Thank you, goodbye."

I stood up, opening the door to see Ray standing with his phone in hand and a laundry basket on the floor. In it I could spot mostly his and Kain's clothes, with some of Kyra's sitting on top to my surprise.

"Everything alright?"

He looked up at me, golden eyes wide as if he didn't expect to see me. "What are you doing here? Last I saw you were outside."

"Well, I smoked the cigarette, I finished it, and then I came back up here to read through the papers you gave me to try and work everything out like I said I would. What was that call about?" I questioned, leaning against the door frame.

"Nothing that concerns you." He huffed, going to pick up the laundry basket until I stepped forward, taking a hold of his arm before he could. "Let go of me, Kai."

"No. Not until you tell me what the hell I did to make you so passive aggressive towards me. I thought we'd had a good thing going, especially when talking about the kids yesterday morning. But then when we got the restaurant you acted like I was your worst enemy. The kids are asking me what's going on, but I don't even know what to tell them since I don't know myself. So, tell me Ray, what did I do this time?" I demanded, keeping a loose hold on his arm.

"Kai…I…I'm still mad about Kyra and you leaving with her." He stammered.

"Bullshit. You told me yourself, we can't change any of that. You know how bad I feel about it all. Or maybe you don't. Do you think I felt good when shortly after we moved Kyra purred for me and got upset when I didn't purr back? Imagine me having to explain to my four-year-old daughter that I couldn't do that and knowing that all she wanted was to have you there purring with her. Picture me trying to console our daughter for hours as she cried out of confusion." I yelled.

"Kyra hadn't told me that…" He murmured.

"Yes, because she wouldn't have remembered. She hasn't purred since two weeks after we'd moved to Russia. Now, I know for a fact this whole act is not because you're mad about Kyra. In fact, she seems to be under the impression that you're behaving this way because you still have feelings for me." I threw out, causing his cheeks to go beat red.

"What? What gave her that impression?" He spoke, his voice sounding higher pitched like it often had when he was nervous.

"She claims she's seen you looking concerned when it comes to us being alone, as well as not seeming as interested in Gabe as someone who's getting married in a week should. Now I have to ask, is this true?" I asked, my voice softening.

"Why would that be true? After everything that's happened…" He said, almost in a whisper.

"Everything that's happened that we agreed to forgive and put behind us for the sake of our children." I frowned. He wasn't really trying to get me to believe he still was angry at me for this, was he?

"And I can't do that, without being in love with you still? According to Kyra?"

"Apparently. Our daughter is rarely wrong, and I have a feeling she's not wrong in this case."

"I love her dearly, but she is wrong. Even if she wasn't, what would it matter to you?" He bit back.

"Because I still have feelings for you. Have since the day you moved out and have throughout all these years." I uttered the words I'd been wanting to say to him all of these years, my heart felt like it was about to leap out of my chest at any moment.

"Liar..." He whispered, trying to turn away before I grabbed his hand.

"I'm not. Why do you think I've never moved on? It's not because I haven't found anyone good enough. It's because they aren't you." I admitted, locking eyes with him.

He tried to pull away from me weakly, not meeting my gaze. "Bullshit... If that was the case, then why..." He locked eyes with me finally, his eyes revealing he was on the verge of tears.

"Why didn't you try? Why didn't you call or come back and fix what you broke! Ten years... Ten years I waited for you to come back." Tears started to run down his cheeks, causing my stomach to drop.

"I fucked up. I was more concerned on doing right by our daughter and trying to provide for her while trying to make sure she stayed with me. I thought that if you knew you'd take her and I'd lose my shot at you all at once. I'd already lost you once. It hurt too much to think of it happening again and losing Kyra in the process." I chocked, shaking my head. "I now know you wouldn't have, but that's what I thought back then."

"You're still too late..." He quivered.

"Do you still have feelings for me?" I asked.

"Of course I do..." He sighed, finally pulling away from me. "But you're still too late."

"How? I've seen how you are with Gabe. Your heart isn't in it, Ray. Can you honestly tell me you love this man enough to marry him?" I accused.

His glare changed to that of a menacing one, his fangs beginning to bare. "I waited for you Kai! I waited, and you never stepped up, you never came back! I'd rather try, than not try. You have no right to tell me where my heart is or isn't, not when you've shattered it so many times."

"Ray...I would never do that again. I know where I've went wrong and will not allow myself to hurt you or our children again. But you need to be honest with yourself. Don't marry him if you aren't sure. I'm not saying this to get you back, I'm saying this because I care if you're happy." I cautioned.

"If you're concerned about my happiness, then stop talking. It's over Kai, has been over for years... Yes, I have been fighting myself with loving you, especially since you've been back. Once again though, you're too late!" He yelled.

"So you still love me too..." I felt a flitter of hope in my stomach, on the verge of a smile until he looked at me again with a scowl.

"Yes!"

"Then why marry a man you obviously don't have those feelings for?"

"Because I love him too! Just stop talking, please..." He shook his head almost violently, as if trying to clear his head of everything we had been saying to each other.

"You're not even willing to accept the fact that I've grown up since I was in my twenties?" I furrowed my brows, remembering how much I hated Ray's stubborn side.

"I can, but you have to do the same for me and accept the fact that I am engaged, and you lost your chance." He seemed as frustrated as me as his pupils were now slit.

I sighed, not able to continue this fight any longer. That was it, I'd lost him. I couldn't continue to put myself through this. If I couldn't have him as a lover, I couldn't have him in my life at all.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can keep up the friendship we've had since being back in each other's lives anymore then. I can be civil for the children's sake, but I can't be your friend and pretend I don't want anything more. I'll stay for the wedding since I know you want Kyra there, but I won't attend and the minute it's over, her and I are on the next flight to Russia. I'll keep in contact with Kain and set up visits with your permission and Kyra can see you as she sees fit, but we are not friends." I growled, turning my back as to not show how painful this was for me.

I didn't look back but knew Ray had gone and left the hallway by the footsteps down the stairs and the sudden slam of the front door. After a few moments, I decided to come down the staircase as well, met by Kyra who was entering with a few shopping bags in hand. She gave me a hopeful smile, only for her face to fall as she saw me shake my head and frown while looking down at the steps.

It was over. Any hope I'd had of having the love of my life back was gone and at that point, I couldn't help but feel I was destined to be alone for the rest of my life.


	26. Chapter 26

**Kain's POV**

What was that old man thinking? What on earth would have possessed him to have confronted dad like that?! I figured it best to just let them both go, dad ran out of the house and Kai went and locked himself in his room. I wish I could say I was a good son and not listened to their conversation, but that would be a lie. I won't lie, my heart broke for both of them, but dad was right. Kai had all the time in the world to come back, could have come back and fixed things with us. If it hadn't been for Kyra going to camp this year, we would have still been living like nothing had changed. Slowly, I was wondering if that would have been better or not. Then again, I'm not fond of dying before I turn 18 and since finding that life insurance policy that Gabe had conjured up my nerves have not loosened up.

It was nearing dinner time and dad still hadn't come back, nor was he answering my phone calls. Seriously, not this again! I think I've left over twenty messages, all ranging from me pleading for him just to call me back to threatening to call the police and report him as a missing person. I even called uncle Max and uncle Tyson, neither had heard from him or seen him, hearing that did nothing to help calm my nerves.

Since he wasn't coming back, and I was getting hungry and I don't think Kyra and Dimitri had anything to eat I decided to keep busy by making dinner. It was my first time trying to make chicken alfredo, and it didn't help that I was a bit sidetracked and my nerves were about to break, and the fact I had Matt on the phone between my shoulder and ear, but I burnt my hand, and I had burnt it good.

"Holy shit!" I threw the phone down, along with the pan of hot oil and the chicken breasts that weren't even done yet.

"I told you to put me on speaker." I hear Matt sigh, I ignore him and go to the fridge to grab the butter.

After lathering a good layer on my hand, I go ahead and put my phone on speaker and lean against the counter by the stove. "I know… I just… Have you heard anything yet?" I ask, feeling like more weights are just piling up on my shoulders.

"Not yet, I told you I would let you know if he comes home." He sighs again, at least he sounds how I feel about this and is just as worried as I am. "Now stop trying to burn yourself."

I had to chuckle at that a bit. "First time for everything, right?"

"Not for you, specially not when it comes to cooking. Maybe you should let someone else do it, if you can't focus on it properly you're going to get hurt again." He argued, and for a minute it sounded like a pep talk he'd dish out right before a beyblade match.

"No, this is supposed to be a surprise for Kyra, I can't ask her to do it." I rolled my eyes. "And I have no clue if Dimi can cook, and Kyra has already said Kai can't."

"Then take a break."

"But I'm hungry." I pout, even though he can't see it before going back to trying and cooking these damn chicken breasts in the oil.

The oil sputters and spits at me, getting me in the arms but it's not as bad as my hand that is still stinging with the butter on it. I turn the temp down a bit, hopefully that'll help a bit, and get the large pot to put water in for the noodles. Matt's gone quiet on the other end but knowing he's there is a bit helpful, till I get a terrible thought that dad might be hurt because of Gabe and I drop the pot of water all over the floor.

"Kain?! What was that?" He quickly asks, panic evident in his voice.

I let out a sigh and my shoulders go forward, resting my forehead against the counter as I stand in the water that spilled all over the floor.

"What if he's dead?" My voice cracks, and I'm surprised he even heard me.

"Stop over thinking things, he's fine-" "How can you say that?! You don't know that!" I cut in, automatically feeling guilty for yelling at him. "I'm sorry…" I mumble.

He goes quiet again, and that's when Kyra comes down looking a bit panicked. "Are you alright, what was that noise?"

"Dropped the pot of water." I sigh, pushing away from the counter and getting a rag to clean up the mess on the floor.

"Oh, sounded like someone was breaking into the house or something… What's on your hand?" She asked, looking at the butter still on the palm of my hand.

"Butter, I burnt myself."

"Get him away from the oven Kyra, he's going to burn the house down like this." Matt pipes in over my phone, and she gives me a questioning look.

"Butter? And like what, what's wrong?" She asks while I mop up the rest of the water and toss the rag into the sink behind me.

I feel myself tense up, why would she ask such a stupid question? "What do you think is wrong? Dad isn't home yet, its nearly eight and he hasn't answered any of my calls." I tell her, filling up the pot once more and getting it to the stove without dropping it this time.

"I'm sure he's fine. He's an adult, Kain. Probably just needs space." She offers, and I shake my head at her.

"You don't know that. I've given him space, plenty of space. Something Kai should have done to begin with." I feel an unknown anger swell in the pit of my stomach as I say that, why DID Kai have to go and say anything today?

"It's not his fault. I suggested it because I thought it would benefit him to actually talk about his feelings for once, and maybe Ray knowing would've ended the whole Gabe thing for us. If I would've known, it would end like this, I wouldn't have suggested it." She explains to me, and my eyes go wide at that.

What the hell was SHE thinking?!

"Why, why would think that would be a good idea?! You know how stressed he's been, this was the dumbest thing to have them do Kyra." I scorn at her, and she takes a step back from my outburst.

"It's been stressful for Dad too you know! You haven't seen what he's been like the past fourteen years without Ray. Being here and having to see him is harder for him than he lets on." She argues back, her voice raising like mine had done.

I cross my arms over my chest. Kai had already mentioned this to dad, and I agree with dad that Kai could have come back sooner. "That's his fault then for staying away for so long."

Matt comes back on the phone, I had forgotten he was still on the line. "Kain, stop fighting with Kyra it's not going to change what's happened." He lowered his tone at me, and that just pisses me off more.

"Don't butt in Matthew." I scorn him over the phone, glaring at the little black device on the counter and feel guilty once more for yelling at him. "Just... Just let me know if Dad comes home or not." I sigh, hanging up on him as he goes to say something. I turn back to Kyra. "This is your fault too."

"Do you not think he knows that? He was twenty when he made that choice. Not many people make extremely logical choices at the age of twenty. How is it my fault for how things ended up? It was Ray's decision to leave." She says calmly, crossing her arms over her chest.

I didn't want to argue with her, but how could she side with Kai in this? I take a step towards her, the anger swelling more in my gut than before. "He had all this time to come back! Sure, it's easy for you to say when he took you and didn't avoid you all your life! It's your fault for suggesting he open up, this wasn't the right time and you know that!" I yell, having to fight back my pupils from slitting at her.

She shakes her head at me while sighing. "Honestly, can the both of you stop dwelling on the past? Yes, this happened and it's shitty for all of us, but you and Ray keep playing the victim when Dad has already explained how bad he feels so many times!" She starts off calmly, then takes a step to match the step I took at her.

"There is never going to be a right time for this and you know that. Honestly Kain, you have no one to blame but yourself. We were just fine with our lives in Russia before you decided to scheme your way into having us here. You're just using me as a scapegoat." She yelled, glaring furiously, her own pupils wavering at me.

Out of natural instinct, at least it's what it felt like, I bare my fangs and let my pupils slit fully. "I never said I was playing the victim and neither is dad! He's hurt, I'm hurt." I yell, and for a second, I'm surprised at myself for getting so loud towards her.

I mock bow towards her, watching her tense where she stands across from me. "Terribly sorry your _highness_ that if it wasn't for Kai leaving, none of this would have been hard!" I stand back up, and the look on her face is one of pure anger it makes me smirk inside a bit.

"And there was a right time, after we exposed Gabe, after everything else was settled, not in the fucking middle of it all!" I continue, not sure what is keeping me going but I don't let her get a say in, not yet.

"I see the truth finally has come out, took you long enough to be honest with me. Yeah, I guess this is all my fault. My deepest apologies for causing so much _grief_ in your 'perfect' little lives!" I can only smirk outwardly now at her, as she looks ready to kill me.

"Do you not think that Dad and I are hurt too?! Ray left first. He started all of this and he chose to take you with him. He is the one who started this mess when he gave up on Dad and left me behind. Even then, we'd be leaving Kain! Don't you get it? We're not staying here and honestly? I don't think I want to seeing how much you both have put Dad through in only the past week of being here!" She yells, this time not letting me get a word in yet. I clench my hands at my sides and glare her down as she continues.

"You keep going on about how hurt you are and keep defending Ray for everything! You're so absorbed in yourself and him that you don't even see how much all of this has affected me!" She begins to lose her breath, I can see tears at the corner of her eyes and my heart stops for a second. Why didn't she say something was wrong?

She looks away from me, trying to hide the tears now. "I'm watching my dad get his heart torn apart while basically getting put on the back burner my whole time here…" She starts to tremble, and the anger I felt before starts to fade as I watch her begin to break down in front of me.

"I'm hurting so much and none of you even care enough to see that!" She screamed, locking eyes with me once more as her entire body shakes from her pent-up anger.

I stand in stunned silence for a minute, this isn't what I wanted, and I'm about to step forward and apologize when our father comes walking in the kitchen. He looks exhausted, and he smells like booze.

He looks at me, eyes hard then at Kyra where they soften slightly. "That's enough." He breathes out, and before either Kyra or I can speak Tala and Bryan come in as well, both eyes wide from having heard Kyra's outburst.

I was ready to give it up but seeing Kai step in sets another fire within me and I snap once more.

"If you were in his shoes you wouldn't have left? He explained it to you why he did, and I was a baby!" I yell, not sure if it was to remind her or Kai of that fact or not. "Of course he had to take me, wasn't like he was going to." I motion towards Kai, and he doesn't really look like he's registering anything I'm saying.

"At this point I don't care either, you all can go, I don't fucking care anymore Kyra. It's been me and him, just us, like it's been you and Kai. So yes, I am focused on him, especially since his 'fiancé' wants us dead." I shudder as those words pass my lips, and she hangs her head again as if she just remembered that bit of information we had dug up.

"Did you forget that? Just like Ray is my dad, and Kai is yours, you forget they are both of ours! And you should have come to me if you were hurting! That's what I'm here for, but no you clam up like Kai and do this bullshit." I continue, and her tears keep coming and my heart hurts from hurting her like this.

"This is what family is here for! If you had actually grown up around us, you'd probably have realized that! That's why I wanted you here, that's why I 'schemed' my way into your lives! Because I cared about you enough. Believe it or not, this was not for my benefit, but for everyone else!" I yell out, feeling my own tears pricking at the corner of my eyes.

"I said enough!" Kai yells, and we both jump in place at the tone of his voice. He glares at me then back to Kyra who hasn't looked up from the floor, tears still rolling down her face. "Tala, take her upstairs please."

Tala doesn't say anything, just nods while going up and taking Kyra gently by the shoulders and leads her out of the kitchen. Bryan stays back by the edge of the bar, and Kai watches quietly till Tala and Kyra are gone before he turns to me.

"I don't want to hear any more of that. Ray and I's problems are ours alone, not for you both to take sides and argue over." He stated quickly and almost dully before turning around to follow after Kyra and Tala.

I felt a growl escape my throat, watching him just leave like that. "That's it, turn your back on me like you've always done." I scorn, and he pauses for just a second before shaking his head and continuing on his way.

I turn off the stove, having just remembered it was on and the water has pretty much boiled all over the place and the chicken breasts are burnt to the pan. "Whatever, we don't need you. I'm going to look for dad since no one seems to care he could be in danger." I mumble to myself, grabbing my jacket from the bar top.

Bryan was quite for a while, and for a minute I didn't think he'd actually say anything to me until I started to walk past him.

"Ray is fine. Not that you'd know, but this is typical behavior for him. Before you were born, and they'd fight, Ray would go off for hours to think on his own and cool off. Probably what he's doing now." He explained causing me to pause just under the archway of the kitchen.

I hang my head, shaking it slightly as the anger in me finally seemed to leave my body. "No. No he hasn't done this to me. He'd answer my calls, and he hasn't. He's been gone for hours." A few tears escaped, and I wiped them away quickly with the back of my sleeve. "I need him to be alright, and Gabe isn't back either. What... What if somethings happened?" I ask as I look up at him.

He gives me sort of a smile, not really sure but it kind of sent a cold shiver down my spine. "You've never experienced him in a fight with Kai before. The two of them have the power over each other to make them both lose their minds in a fight. There were plenty of times Tala had to take Kyra for an afternoon just because Ray needed the time away from her and everyone to rationally think things over." He explains, and I just nod to him like I understand, but I feel numb and tired that I don't know what else to do.

"As for Gabe, he's nowhere near Ray. While you think she only cares about herself, Kyra risked getting caught today and put a tracker in Gabe's car. He's in a motel an hour and a half away, probably still with the guy they caught him with this morning." He sighed, locking eyes with me. "I get that this situation is hard for all of you, but you don't understand how much it's pushing Kai and Kyra out of their comfort zones to be here and do all of this for the both of you. It may not seem like they care because they don't express things like the two of you do, but everything they've done in this trip has been for both of you and now they've hit their breaking point. It's okay to still be mad at Kai, but don't make him pay for it for the rest of his life. And ease up on your sister. She's had it a lot more rough than she's put on in these past fourteen years." He says and clamps a hand down on my shoulder, giving me a slight shake.

I can't help but shift a bit uncomfortably under his hand, looking down at my feet. "It still wasn't the right time for him to bring his feelings up. If he had just stayed quite a bit longer, none of this would have happened..." I breathe out, and sigh taking everything in that he just said to me. It does nothing to help me feel any better about what I said and did.

"I didn't know she did that, and I'm grateful for her for doing that, she didn't need to risk her neck like that. Not really what I had in mind when I said to tag after him. And I didn't say that she only cares for herself, I know she doesn't. I saw that clear as day when we first met, and I can still see it now." I find myself smiling slightly at the memories of Kyra and I's first meeting.

Somehow it seems we've gone back to not knowing each other at all, and I guess it's true that we still really don't. I didn't want to make her feel pressured for having done this, or Kai for that matter, I just wanted them to be happy, I wanted dad to be happy.

"I don't want to be mad at him, not for the past and I don't mean to keep bringing it up… I said a lot of things I shouldn't have because I'm scared, and it felt like I was the only who cared if dad was alright… I didn't mean to be so harsh on her... I really didn't." I explain, and he seems to get what I'm saying and lets my shoulder go.

"Kyra was right when she said there is no right time. Knowing Kai this has been killing him to keep in since we got here. It'll blow over and once both of them cool off things will be fine. I know you didn't mean it but give her some time and then apologize to her. She's never had someone be that harsh to her before and it's going to take a lot for her to trust you again. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to make sure Kai doesn't drink himself to death. Let Tala or I know if you need anything." He said, patting my back as he walked after the others.

"Maybe… Alright, thanks." I mumbled after him, only getting a wave over his shoulder at me before he disappeared around the corner of the foyer.

The house was dead quite after everything, I didn't know what to do so I went back to making dinner, having to scrap the chicken and refill the pot of water. Part of me was hoping Matt would have called me back, but the entire time I successfully made dinner he didn't, and dad hadn't called me or showed up.

It took me a while before I gathered up the guts to face my sister again, knowing full well that she was not going to be happy to see me anytime soon. Though, if it was left up to her we'd be in our forties before she ever talked to me again. I took up just her plate, thinking if I took mine up as well she'd be more off putting, and just so she didn't have extra ammo to throw at me if she felt like throwing it at my head.

I had pep talked myself the entire way up the stairs, though when I actually got to her door I froze. The things she had said downstairs started to replay in my head, everything she had finally opened up about in her anger. Tears were back in my eyes, now I was scared that she had meant those things. Did she? Was she actually that mad at me for bringing them here, or was it just something she said because she was mad at me?

Shaking my head to rid the thoughts from myself, I stepped into the room. Immediately she turned and glared at me while I sat the plate down on the table beside the bed. Her eyes were still red and puffy, tear stains still on her pale cheeks and my heart sunk even further to my toes as we just stared at each other. I wanted to speak, to voice my apology to her and hear her out on whether or not she forgave me. Instead my body moved on its own and I threw myself at her, pulling her into a hug.

She tensed, and I held on tighter, not sure if I was trying to keep her from pulling away or slugging me, but she relaxed in my hold and put her arms around my back. In a way that was all we needed to do, she silently forgave me as I silently apologized to her.

After a few minutes we pulled away and she took the plate I had left beside her, she gave me a small smile of thanks and started to eat it. Her eyes lit up and she looked rather pleased with how it turned out, and to me it was worth getting burned, several times, to have seen her approve of my food.

I let her eat in silence, until she was done with everything to bring up the next problem I had to face; our father.

"Should I wait till later, or do it now?" I asked her, and she seemed to think about it for a minute.

"I would do it now, especially after everything that's happened today. He thought you two were doing better, and to hear you say all those things probably really crushed him." She explained in a low tone, and I nodded.

"Alright… I gotta get myself prepared for that… Wanna come out and have a smoke with me?" I asked, a small smirk on my lips as she gave me a small one of her own.

"Not tonight, maybe tomorrow. I still need some space." She said in that same low whisper, as if she was afraid of talking to me.

I nodded. "Yeah… I kind of agree with you there. I'll see you in the morning then?" I asked, getting off the bed and gathering her plate.

"Yeah, thanks for dinner… And… Let me know if you hear from Ray, alright?"

"Of course." I gave her another smile before slipping out of her room, taking the plate back to the kitchen to wash later.

After making Kai his plate I took it outside with me just, so I could still my nerves with a quick smoke, though I wasn't expecting to see Dimitri out there and I almost turned around and left.

"Oh no, you get back here Hiwatari." He called after me before I was able to get back into the house.

I rolled my eyes and turned around to face him. "Yes Ivanov-Kuztenov?" I smirked, and he narrowed his eyes at me.

"Don't play around right now Kain." He started, crossing his arms over his chest. "Just what the hell was all that earlier?"

"Sibling spat?" I shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know Dimitri. I've been overly worked up with this whole Gabe wants to kill dad and me, that I just went overboard with everything."

"I can understand that, but you should know no one here is going to allow that to happen." He shook his head at me.

"Doesn't do anything saying that when my dad isn't here." I said as I took a seat on one of the longue chairs, setting my father's plate beside me. "There's more downstairs if you want."

He nodded his thanks as he sat on the lounge chair beside me, folding his hands over his knees as he looked at me intently. "I should strangle you for what you said to Kyra, but then again she said some pretty harsh things to."

"I'd let you hit me, if you wanted." I told him with a small smile, and he shook his head no at my offer. "The worse part is, is I don't know if we told each other the truth or not back there or if we just said things in the heat of the moment…"

"Probably a bit of both, you two don't seem to be that different when it comes to your tempers and what comes out of your mouths when angry." He chuckled at his own words for a bit, and I felt my smile grow a tiny bit.

"I'm kind of surprised it took us this long to get onto each other… Just wish it wasn't over something like this." I said shaking my head again.

Dimitri placed a hand on my shoulder, much like his father did to me earlier. "Bet you're wishing you were still an 'only' child about now then, hu?" He smirked, and for a second, I couldn't tell if he was trying to cheer me up or if he was saying that to be mean.

"No. I wouldn't trade having my sister for the world. Unlike you, and Kyra, this isn't the first time I've had an argument with a sibling. We may not be blood related, but I've had plenty of fights with the twins, and in the end, we were always there for each other. Sure, Kyra is different from Matt and Stella, but eventually she'll come around too. I don't expect it to be soon, but she will."

His smirk fell from his face and he drew his hand away from my shoulder. "Downstairs you said you brought them here for their sakes, not yours, was that true?"

I arched a brow at him, giving him a questioning look. "Yeah, why?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Just asking, because that's a pretty selfless thing to do, if you're really telling the truth."

"Not my best idea it seems, but I guess once this night is over there's nothing else to do but move forward." I sighed, then remembered the food I had to give to my father. "I better take this to Kai before it gets any colder." I said, quickly getting up.

"Good luck." He chuckled at me before I left him out there completely alone.

Much like when I was faced with Kyra's door, I was frozen in front of Kai's door. Swallowing the lump in my throat and stilling my shaking limbs I stepped inside without bothering to knock since I could hear him pacing the room. His head shot up from staring at the floor in his walk, and for a second it looked like he was ready to yell at me before he motioned for me to come in further. I had to remind myself of what Kyra had said, we had been doing better and he probably was crushed from what I had said. I couldn't be like dad and still sit in the past, I had to move forward with this if I wanted things to get better.

"Figured you could use something to eat, specially with all the drinking you're doing." I told him while setting his plate down on the desk by the door.

"Thanks." He ran a hand through his bangs, looking like he hadn't slept in months. "Let me see your hand." He held his out, and I showed him the palm of my burnt hand as I stepped up to him a bit more in the center of the room.

"It's not too bad, hurts a bit still but it should be good tomorrow." I told him as he seemed to be inspecting it.

"Should put some ointment on it and wrap it for the night." He said, letting my hand go and stepping into the bathroom that was connected to the bedroom.

He came back with the first aid kit that was normally under the sink and brought over the ointment and gauze. I bit back a hiss as he smoothed the ointment over the burn, and then wrapped my hand in the gauze.

"Thanks…"

"Just be careful next time, alright?" He said, letting my hand go once he had finished wrapping the gauze around it.

"Yeah, I will…" I said as I let my hand come down to my side, just looking up at him a bit awkwardly. "Listen…" I started, rubbing the back of my head with my good hand. "What I said downstairs… I didn't mean it, I just… I'm worried about dad and all and it just piled up on me and I said things I didn't mean."

"I know you didn't mean it, doesn't make it right what you said to your sister, but it's not for you two to be getting into your father and I's business like this. And that was my fault, for starting everything earlier."

"No, Kyra was right. You should have been able to tell dad how you felt, specially if it had been eating at you all this time. If you knew, if any of us knew, what would have happened tonight then I know you wouldn't have said anything. Don't apologize for that, and don't apologize for still loving him." I said rather quickly, having butted into what he was saying, and he gave me a look as if I had three heads.

"If anything, tonight is my fault. I could have stepped in and stopped you two or stopped dad from leaving, if we want to be extremely technical, it's my fault any of you are here to begin with and I know it can't be easy for you guys. It's been a lot to process for me too, and dad as well, and I think that's why he left." I continued, since he seemed to be going silent on me now.

"It'd be nice if he could answer his phone for me, but maybe we all just needed some space after all this time of being on top of each other since you got here. While also dealing with the Gabe issue, and everything else, and I'm rambling…" I laughed a bit, and he nodded. "I am happy you guys came though, really I am."

"Me too." He smiled a bit at me, and I smiled back.

"Hey, least he said he stilled loved you." I tried to lighten the mood a bit. "All we have to do is make sure we get our evidence on Gabe, and boom, no wedding, just like we've planned." I said, and he seemed to brighten, if ever so slightly, at that.

"He may still love me, but he made it pretty clear that he doesn't want to try again." He said while finally sitting down at the end of the bed.

I bit my bottom lip as I went over to the desk and got his plate for him, handing it to him to make sure he ate something. He took it, and just stared at it for a second before I pushed his arm to get him moving. As he ate, I went to the chair at the desk and continued to talk to him.

"He did say that, but he could not mean it. Or he just needs time to think about it, he's gotta be scared too about trying again. I know I would be if our situations were the same, and if it was reversed, don't you think you would be?" I asked, and he looked to be in thought before nodding slightly.

"You think I should have tried sooner too then?" He asked, meeting my crimson eyes with his own.

"Yeah, he was right about that and you can't deny that." I told him, and he nodded again. "But that doesn't mean you two can't try again, it might just take a bit more time." I said and stood as he finished his plate of food, taking it from him to take back to the kitchen.

"You still haven't heard from him yet?" He asked, looking just how I felt.

"No, or Matt or uncle Max or Tyson…" I sighed, heading to the door. "If I do I'll let you know, should get some sleep though, and no more drinking the entire room stinks."

He shook his head at me with a small grunt passing his lips. "Thanks Kain, I'll see you in the morning." He said as he stood and went to the head of the bed, actually laying on it and then covering his eyes with the back of his arm as if a headache was starting to come to him.

"Night dad." I said and watched the corner of his mouth turn up into a smile.

By the time I was done with cleaning the pots and pans I had used, washed the plates and silver ware, the entire house had fallen asleep. I still hadn't heard from Matt or my uncles, and dad hadn't come back yet or called me and it was nearing one thirty in the morning. I couldn't find it in myself to go to bed, so I sat up on the couch to wait for him, only to have fallen asleep at some point; my nerves having finally given up on me.

* * *

 **Ray's POV**

After having that talk with Max, it was about time I went back to face everyone, or more importantly Kai and my son. Stepping into the house I wasn't surprised to find everyone asleep, since it was almost four in the morning, but I was surprised to see Kain asleep on the couch.

Quietly I went up to him, not wanting to startle him and gently shook his shoulder. Getting a grunt in return, I shook him a bit harder and called out to him till his eyes fluttered open and his vision focused on me. He bolted upright, arms flinging around my neck in a choking embrace.

"Don't… Don't ever do that to me again." He began trembling in my arms, and all I could seem to do was hold him tighter and run my fingers through the back of his hair.

"What time is it?" He yawned, finally letting me go and sitting back against the couch.

"It's late, you didn't have to wait for me you know." I tell him meekly, and already feel guilty for saying anything by the terror I can see in his eyes. "I'm sorry Kain."

He just shakes his head at me. "It's fine… Just don't… Don't do that again please, you scared the living shit out me."

"Watch your tongue."

"I'm serious, where have you been anyways?" He asked, ignoring my words.

"Where haven't I been?" I sigh out and lean back into the couch and close my eyes, thinking of where I ended up going since I had left. "When I first left, my first thought was to go to the restaurant, because of the broken pipe, but as I started to drive I didn't go there. Somehow, without thinking I went to the old Hiwatari manor."

"Why would you go there?"

I shrug my shoulders, because I truly don't know why or how I even ended up there. "I don't know, I was just driving to clear my head and that's where I ended up going. It's been abandoned, for a while it seems, so I went inside. I didn't stay long, because the memories were just too much and so I left and began driving again.

"This time I found myself at Tyson's old dojo, I've taken you by it a few times when you were younger. I didn't stop in or anything, just drove by it and then went to the old park we used to train at… Then… I found myself standing at the bridge." I pause, and I can feel Kain's eyes still on me intently, so I open mine to look at him.

"Yes, _that_ bridge… By now, I had run around all over the place and I was exhausted and just stood there for a while watching the water rush by. It was calming, while trying to gather my thoughts Max and Tyson found me, again, and I ended up going with them for a few drinks and dinner." I tell him, and his mouth hangs open slightly.

"They could have told me they found you!" He yells at me, and I motion for him to quiet down, so he doesn't wake the entire house.

"They only found me less than three hours ago Kain, I had been out there since ten thirty." I explain, and his mouth just drops even further. "You need to apologize to Matthew, while we're on the subject." I tell him, and he looks down at his lap.

"I know… Trust me, I had to apologize to everyone tonight." He says under his breath.

"What happened?" I ask, and he shakes his head at me.

"I'll tell you tomorrow, tell me about what happened with you."

"Well, we went out, had a few drinks and I loosened up a bit and talked to them about what was going on. I told them about what happened at the restaurant, and what happened here and why I had left. When that was all said and done, they gave me their two cents on what I should and shouldn't do but by now I already knew what I was going to do, only thing was is we were all too drunk to really put my plan into action. So we went back to Tyson's place and crashed until Max and I woke up an hour ago, we went and got my car and I came here." I can't help but laugh a bit, the images of Tyson and Max squishing me between them while trying to walk to our cab that the bar tender had called for us.

"What plan?" Kain asks, looking a bit more intrigued now.

I smirk at him, figuring it best to leave him in the dark for now. "I don't remember." I say, looking as innocent as I can at him. "Though I do know I need to apologize to your father for leaving the way I did and yelling at him for just being honest with me." I tell him, and he nods, though I'm not sure if I convinced him that I truly forgot my 'plan'.

"Well he's asleep right now, prolly won't be up till noon cus he's been drinking too." He says and stretches out. "Should prolly go to bed myself too, or I won't get up till four."

"Alright, I'm gonna head to bed myself then." I say, and we stand at the same time, giving each other a hug before he heads up the stairs.

I sit back on the couch, listening for his footsteps to stop and once he's in the bed I get up and head upstairs to Kai's room. My heart is racing, but from the smell coming through the door I know he's knocked out cold from all the drinking he's done. I slip into his room quietly, able to see his sleeping form in the dark, the way his chest rises and falls in gentle intervals.

Steadying my rushing heart, I step up to the bed and sit down beside him. Not able to help myself I run my finger's through his bangs, still as soft as I remember them to be, sighing and settling down beside him a bit more comfortably. As I sit there, my fingers still idly running through his hair he starts to stir, though from experience I know he's not fully aware, even when he opens his eyes and tries to focus on me sitting beside him.

"R… Ray?" He blinks in confusion at me, and I just smile at him.

"Shhh… Just go back to sleep Kai." I whisper to him, and he nods and lays his head back down and closer to my side.

I wait a minute, till his breathing is once again shallow and labored and I know he's back out before I start to talk to him, knowing full well he won't remember any of this.

"I'm sorry for leaving, today and all those years ago… It was hard, on both of us I know that. You did all you could for us, and I loved you for that, will always love you for that dedication you had to provide for your family… I needed you home though, I needed you to see that we were just as important to be around as we were to provide for.

"We're both to blame for the troubles we've caused, the heartbreak we've caused our children and each other and I am so sorry I have hurt you for this long, as I know you are for doing the same to me." I have to pause for a second, tears are threatening to come forth, and I don't want to fully wake him if I start to cry right now.

I focus on running my fingers through his bangs again, calming myself before I continue. "It must have been so hard for you to come here, you and Kyra, and I cannot express how happy I am that you both came. I know, especially for you, that it hasn't been easy, and you knew it wouldn't be easy, but you came anyways. You came for your children… For me… And I wish it wasn't this hard, that things weren't the way they were…"

I can't find my voice, having to stop because tears have escaped but I'm not ready to leave his side yet. I sit there for a while longer, just touching his hair and listening to him breathe gently in his sleep. I start to feel myself dozing off beside him, so I pull away from him to go to Gabe's room to sleep alone. Before I leave him though, I lean down and gently brush my lips along his.

I had missed that feeling, the smell of him so close, and the touch that ignited a spark in my body. I wanted to lose myself then and there, to not leave yet and just savor the moment, but he began to stir again so I pulled back quickly. He stopped right after I pulled back, and I couldn't help but smile down at him; somethings have never changed it seems.

"Goodnight Kai." I whisper to him, brushing his bangs back one last time before heading to the door.


	27. Chapter 27

**Author's Note:**

 **This will prolly be the last update for some time as Misfit has gone back to school and I am currently in the middle of a move. We apologize for the late updates, but it won't be long before this fic is coming to a close soon. We want to thank everyone who has come and read and reviewed, it really means a lot to the both of us.**

 **I don't think I properly edited this chapter, as it was written on my phone, but without further ado please enjoy the shit storm.**

* * *

 **Kain's POV**

I knew this morning would be awkward, I was actually prepared for an all-out war once I stepped downstairs, but once I reached the kitchen it was quiet and peaceful. Tala and his family were sitting around the table, the smell of fresh brewed coffee filling up the air as they seemed to be in their own conversation, briefly stopping to give me a nod each as I grabbed my own mug of coffee.

"Ray's already been up and gone." Tala started, and I felt myself frown.

"He said he was taking us with him today though?" I said as I came to the table and sat with them.

"He's just out getting some breakfast for everyone, said he'd be back shortly. Gabe's back in his room, we haven't really seen him besides that." Tala explained with his own frown at the mention of Gabe's name.

"Oh… Okay then… Yeah, I can hear Gabe in the shower. Probably washing himself of the other guys scent, damn bastard." I mumbled around the last part, gripping my mug a bit tighter as my ears perked as Kyra came down into the kitchen.

"Morning Kyra." Tala called out to her cheerfully, which she only gave a small smile back as a response as she started to rummage through the cabinets of the kitchen.

"Dad's getting some breakfast." I told her, and she paused and looked me dead in the eyes and I felt myself shut down quicker than I ever had.

"I'm looking for something to help my dad, he's got a really bad hangover and can't even sit up right now." She explained, though she was looking my way I could tell she was focusing on the space past my head.

"I can help." I started to push away from the table in order to help her look for something when Tala cleared his throat beside me.

"Let him suffer, he caused this mess for himself." He said as he sat back in his chair, Bryan nodding in agreement with his husband. Gee, that's pretty harsh uncle Tal…

"Fine, whatever I was just trying to help him." Kyra said as she slammed a cupboard shut. "Can I at least give him something to eat and drink?" She asked sarcastically as she placed her hands on her hips.

Tala only nodded, letting her go about and gather some coffee in a mug for our ailing father as the other one was beginning to come through the front door. I stood up and went to the archway of the kitchen to greet him, as I did so I could feel Kyra tense as I walked past her and made sure to not make eye contact with her as I went by. So much for a peaceful morning, who was I trying to kid though?

"Hope you guys like doughnuts." Dad said with a bright smile holding out two cream colored boxes. "Wasn't sure what everyone likes, so there's a bit of each in there." He said as he handed me one box and sat the other on the bar end of the counter before digging into one and pulling out two plain chocolate ones and placing them on a plate from the dishwasher.

"Here, give these to Kai for me, will you? Also I have something for his hangover you can give him." He said holding the plate out to Kyra still standing behind him.

I was expecting her to jerk the plate away, or not take it at all and simply ignore him after all she had said last night. So you can expect my surprise when she actually took it from him, like a normal human being, and nodded her thanks to him while he went to Gabe's room for the medicine to give to the old man. Tala didn't say anything when he came back, handing Kyra a small bottle of medicine.

"If you wanted to still come with us the offer is there, but I understand if you have other plans for the day." Dad told her after handing her the medicine and she seemed to just be frozen in place from everything going on.

"No, I don't have anything planned for today, so I don't mind going with you." She said in a low whisper to him, pocketing the medicine bottle.

He gave her another smile and shifted around her in order to get a doughnut for himself, motioning to the others still at the table to get their own as Kyra went back towards the stairs. I stood back and waited till everyone had a doughnut before I grabbed my favorite, jelly filled, and stayed beside him at the counter while we both ate ours together.

"What do you guys want to do for dinner?" Dad spoke up after finishing his doughnut, washing his hands of the icing in the sink beside him. I'm not sure where this lighter mood came from, or what he was trying to gain by acting like nothing happened the night before, but I guess it was just his way of trying to move past everything.

"Are you already getting tired of cooking Ray? I never thought I'd see the day." Tala chuckled slightly, and I was more shocked at how calm he was acting towards dad than anything else. Did I miss something this morning, or did I just wake up in another dimension?

Dad shrugged his shoulders a bit as he went around the counter to sit with them at the table. "A little bit, not that I don't mind cooking for everyone but today with having to go out and check the venue it's already going to be such a busy day." Dad explained.

"I don't mind, I was only messing with ya Ray. Do you think Mr. Alcoholic will be able to stand by then?" Tala chuckled. Wow uncle Tal, just keep laying that out on the old man why don't you?

"More than likely, the medicine I gave to Kyra is pretty strong. Not to mention he's stubborn enough to fight past it." Wow, you too dad? And here I thought you loved the guy? Remind me not to get a hangover around these guys, they'd let me die on the floor while laughing at my expense.

It got pretty quiet after that, and soon enough Kyra came back downstairs with a light jacket and her hair and makeup done so she could leave with us. I scooted myself away from her, so she could get herself a doughnut, without making her uncomfortable around me more than she was probably already feeling. I wasn't really looking forward to the drive to the venue, or having to be around her like this, but then again, I couldn't really blame her.

"Did he take the medicine?" Dad asked as he looked over his shoulder to Kyra, who was mid-bite into her doughnut.

"Uh… Yeah."

"That's good. You look beautiful by the way." That came out of left field, lets see how she'll react.

"Oh… Um… Thank you…" She said, hanging her head and blushing slightly. "When do we leave?"

"As soon as everyone is ready." Can that be never?

Spoke too soon, after another bought of silence Gabe finally decided to grace us with his sleazy presence and we headed for the car. Kyra calling out shot-gun and ran to the passenger door, dad didn't protest, even when Gabe just kind of stood there looking at him like he didn't understand the importance of calling out shot-gun. At first, I didn't really mind until I realized that I had to sit next to Gabe in the back seat and then I was there staring at dad with my own silent plea to not let Kyra sit up front, which went unnoticed as he simply slid into the driver's seat. Kyra turned and gave me a smug grin before getting in the passenger seat and slammed her door closed, so she did that on purpose?! Two points for Kyra, zero for Kain…

Surprisingly it wasn't that bad of a drive, dad let Kyra put in her iPod and we listened to some of the bands she likes, and even though she was breathing out the lyrics under her breath I could hear her, and she has a really great voice. If she wasn't into blading I'd suggest she take up singing as her profession. Without realizing it I had started to bob my own head to the music, reminding myself to look up these bands later when I had time.

After about an hour of driving out we made it to the venue, and I was rather surprised with it. The whole place was rather beautiful, perfect for a wedding in my opinion, just not one in the middle of winter. It was all outdoors, with only one building that I assumed was the bathrooms and where the wedding party was to get ready. Luckily it wasn't that cold out, but there was still some snow left on the ground and the pond near the back corner of the venue was still frozen over.

"Outside?" I asked, giving my dad a raised brow as I came around the front of the car where he was standing.

"Well, we had already booked to look at it when the wedding was supposed to be later." He shrugged. "It's really pretty and I figured why not check it out, see if it's doable and the weather shouldn't be too bad." He explained.

"It is pretty…" I mumbled, following after him as he started towards the building on our right. "Are we meeting someone here?"

"Yes, the wedding planner."

"When did you get a wedding planner?" I asked, giving him another raised brow.

"A few weeks ago." He shrugged, reaching the doors of the building and holding them open for us to head inside.

We were greeted by a young looking man, clipboard in hand and dressed rather uptight looking. He and the other two older men shook hands and started talking over the plans, while I drowned them out by walking around a bit.

Inside was actually bigger than what I anticipated, with several rooms and even a small kitchen and inside dinning area. There was a door that led to the bathrooms, with its own door that led back outside. When I came back from my meandering, Kyra was standing in the front of the building where we had come into, I didn't hear or smell dad and the other two in the building anymore and once again I was stuck with the options of approaching her or avoiding her. Stupid me walked up to her.

"They go outside?" I asked, standing a good distance from her.

She acted like she didn't even hear me, just turned and headed for the doors so I followed her. Back outside I could see dad and the other two across the field by the frozen pond, the wedding planner motioning around to the space where they were standing animatedly. Dad was just nodding along, trying to look interested in what he was saying, while Gabe's nose was stuck in his phone. I went to head their way, when Kyra unexpectedly grabbed my wrist and stopped me.

"What?" I asked, a bit shocked she would even touch me at this point.

"He's been on his phone the entire time."

"Yeah, I know… You'd think he'd be more into trying to keep up the charade." I told her, stepping back and leaning against the building.

"I have a device that we can use to hack his phone, where any text he receives goes straight to mine. Only problem is, is I can't get his phone from him…" She frowned, crossing her arms over her chest and sending a glare towards Gabe.

"Well that's pretty cool, but you're right… How do we get his phone?" I mused.

"Do you think you'd be quick enough to pick-pocket him?" She asked.

I shook my head at her. "No, I'm not that fast and dad would see anyways. We can always wait till we get back to the house and try to get it there?"

"That would take too long, and even then, there's no guarantee that we'll get it. We're running out of time as it is, so either we do it now or we don't do it at all." She said, shaking her head slightly.

"Can I see the thing?" I asked, holding my hand out where she placed a small antenna looking piece in my hand. It wasn't very big, barely the size of my finger nails.

"Did you guys go to some super-secret spy store yesterday or something?" I asked after handing her the device back, where she placed it back into her purse.

She smirked a little and shook her head. "Bryan gave us a contact he used to know, he gave us the equipment we needed."

"Alright… Well let me think about what we can do to get that phone." I said, watching Gabe still walk after dad and the wedding planner with his nose still glued to his phone across the field to another spot in the far back right corner, not too far off from where the building stood.

I didn't have many ideas, not if he continued to hold that phone like that the entire time we were here. More than likely he would sit up front on the way back, and I wouldn't be able to reach into his pockets to grab it either, not too mention we would be in too close of quarters of dad and him to set the device in Kyra's phone. She was right, we couldn't wait that long, it had to be done now or never. Whatever he was texting surely would be something more to use in exposing him to dad, it was just a matter of how.

"How long will it take for you to put that device in his phone?" I asked her.

"I place it into the earphone jack and sync it with my phone, which already has its own device in it. It shouldn't take long at all, as long as I have a good signal." She explained.

"Alright… Come with me then." I said, heading out towards the space where dad and Gabe were standing with the wedding planner, who was once again waving and pointing out about him.

She followed after me without a word, the snow crunching under our boots as we approached them. Dad gave us a warm smile as we came up, though something in his eyes told me it wasn't an actual smile. I smiled back, looking like I wasn't up to anything as I approached his fake fiancé, unraveling my weighted scarf.

"Hey, it's getting kind of hot, you mind holding this for me?" I asked, approaching Gabe.

He glanced up, eyeing my scarf and the forced smile I put on my face. "Why don't you just take it to the car?"

"It's all the way over there, c'mon please?" I asked, trying my best not to just hit him with the damn thing.

"Alright." He sighed, holding out one hand to take my scarf. Bad idea, idiot.

I smiled my fake smile as thanks and dropped the fabric into his outstretched hand, watching it almost knock him off his feet. In his stumble he dropped his phone, having to use his other hand to hold the scarf with both hands as he clenched his teeth. Kyra was fast, I almost hadn't seen her move as she went and casually picked up Gabe's phone and walked off with it quickly.

Rubbing the back of my head, a sheepish grin on my face I smiled at Gabe again to keep his attention. "Oh, I forgot to mention it's weighted. Are your arms alright?"

"F… Fine…" He stuttered, trying to lift the scarf a bit higher as it pulled his arms back down. Seriously, it's not that heavy man. What a baby, it's only roughly 150 lbs. I was carrying that thing on my shoulders when I was twelve and didn't struggle like _that_.

"You sure, if it's too much I can just take it to the car." I said, reaching for it back.

"No… No it's fine. Just caught me by surprise is all." He managed to get out, shifting the scarf a bit more. Luckily, he was more egotistical than stupid, and I stood back and watched him fight with it a bit more until I saw Kyra come back up and nod to me while placing the phone back on the ground where Gabe had dropped it earlier.

"You know, I'm actually getting cold again. Here I'll have it back now." I snatched it from him, almost knocking him back off his feet from the sudden weight-loss.

Kyra snickered a little behind her hand while I put my scarf back on, cracking my neck a bit just to set the weight evenly on my shoulders. I could tell Gabe was pissed off, though with dad nearby he wasn't going to say anything outright to me and I was a bit surprised dad hadn't said anything either, even though I knew he had been watching the whole ordeal.

"What do you think kids, this place seem good enough?" Dad asked after saying his goodbyes to the wedding planner, coming to stand with us.

"If it's what you like." Kyra offered, looking around a bit for the first time since we got here.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm not a fan of it being outside, specially in the cold but hey. Set up a few portable heaters, and I'm sure it'll be fine."

"That's good to hear guys, seeing as how I booked it just now for next week." Dad chuckled. "Since you two missed the tour, let me show you and tell you what I have planned." He motioned for us to start back across the field. No dad, can we just go home now?

Kyra started off first, once again seeming to switch her attitude around us as Gabe picked up his phone and went next. Dad stayed back for a minute, letting them walk off a few feet ahead of us before he placed his arm around my neck. Oh shit, was I going to get it for messing with Gabe?

"What's going on between you two?" He asked in a low whisper, eyeing Kyra's back to see if she had heard us or not, being cautious of her heightened sense of hearing.

I hung my head, kicking at the snow under my feet. "Last night I said some things to her… We had a fight and it got really bad and heated, she doesn't want anything to do with me right now, but I don't blame her or anything."

Dad simply nodded, pushing me along after the other two. "Did you apologize?"

"Kind of… I just sort of hugged her and she hugged me back… Felt like she forgave me, but I can tell she hasn't yet."

He nodded at my words, still leading me forward. "You need to verbally tell her you're sorry… What was said exactly?"

"What wasn't said? I mocked her, I blamed her for what happened between you and Kai. I told her I didn't want her here…" I trail off, the guilt in my stomach causing me to stop.

"What did she say?" He asked, bending down into the snow and putting some of it into his hands.

I arched a brow at him. "What're you doing?"

"Nothing. Just tell me what she said." He continued to work the snow between his hands.

"She blamed you and me for living in the past, holding a grudge against Kai for not coming back and keeping us apart for so long. Said she didn't want to be here either… Things like that… Said she was hurting, but she didn't say why…" I rambled off to him as he nodded, standing with a snowball in the palms of his hands.

"And this all happened because I left?" He asked, looking at me.

"Yeah… I was scared. I didn't know where you were because you weren't answering my calls, and Matt didn't know where you were either… I let that emotion get the better of me- WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" I stutter out a bit, watching him wind back and toss the snowball straight for Kyra's back. My eyes widen as I watch it hit her, the snow sliding down the back of her jacket and she turns around and glares hard at me.

"Kyra! I… I didn't do it!" I yell, she's only a few feet away from me and even though I'm a stuttering mess because of what my father just did, I don't sound all that too convincing.

She bends down, piling a large ball of snow into her hands and reaches far back. I can tell this is going to hurt….

"Kyra, I swear it wasn't me!" I try again, waving my hands frantically about to no avail as she throws the ball like she's a world-star baseball player.

Yup, that hurt and it's cold. The snowball hits me square in the face, running down and into the collar of my scarf, jacket, and shirt. Dad stands there laughing at me, holding his stomach as if it's the funniest thing he's ever seen in his life. Damn you old man, this isn't funny it's freezing!

The laughing stops, another snowball smacks him square in his face and I can't help but laugh at him back. That's what you get you crazy old man, she could have taken my head off with that! I look back at Kyra who is smirking triumphantly at us, while dad bends back down and gets another snowball ready. Kyra quickly mimics his movements, and I feel like I have two options; one, get the hell out of there or two, join in.

One minute she's a scowling moody teenager and the next she's nothing but giggles and squeals of laughter as we pelt each other with snowballs. Sometimes dad and I team up against her, or they team up against me. One time we teamed up against him, and he looked ready to pee himself with how hard we threw our snowballs at him.

I don't remember how long we had been out there, running around like a bunch of children in an all out snowball war, but it was honestly one of the best parts of Kyra's visit. Eventually dad got Gabe in the side of the head with a snowball, prompting him to join in on our fun and that's when Kyra and I teamed up against Gabe. Shockingly dad joined in too, it was three against one now as Gabe was on the opposite side of the field.

Kyra pelted him in the shoulder, while dad got him on the top of the head. I had aimed for his manhood, but he dodged it and next thing I knew I had a snowball flying at the left side of my head…

Ow… That one… That one kind of hurts a lot worse than the others…

"Kain?!" Kyra calls out, rushing over to me as I feel my balance slightly off.

Dad catches me before I fall back completely and now my vision is coming in and out… What the hell happened?


	28. Chapter 28

**Kyra's POV**

"Kain?!" I yell out as my brother falls in Ray's arms, blood is seeping down the left side of his face and his eyes are frantically trying to focus on something.

Gabe comes running up to us all, and I fight the growl that wanted to come out from within my throat as he bends down in front of Ray and Kain.

"Ray, I had no idea, I'm so sorry." Gabe tries to apologize but it looks like Ray isn't having any of it as he just holds a hand up to stop him, shifting Kain in his arms where they stand.

"Let's just get him to the ER." Ray says in a cold voice, I had never heard his voice sound so deadly before.

I followed behind them quietly, getting to the car where Ray is putting Kain up front with him and giving him a towel to put pressure on the wound. Great, I have to sit beside Gabe now when all I'd rather do is tear his head off. I knew he wanted to hurt Kain, but I didn't think he would ever do something out in the open like that, but it was the perfect cover; maybe he isn't so stupid as he seems.

Ray doesn't say anything as he gets into the driver's seat and starts the car, almost speeding out of the parking lot to the wedding venue and down the road. There's no music on and no one is talking, there's a strong tension in the air around us.

"Where… Where we going?" Kain hissed out and his head rolled to the side, my heart sinks as I watch him try to bite through the pain, I may have been mad at him for the night before, but I didn't want to see him get hurt; not like this.

"Just keep pressure on that." Ray bites back to him, his attention not wavering from the road as he speeds down it, by-passing stop signs.

Gabe shifts in his seat, trying to play the concerned partner still. "I'm really sorry Ray, it was an accident."

"Just stop!" Ray barks out, and even I jumped at the sound of his tone. I never knew he could sound so angry, I had only ever seen him calm and collected, but now it was like he was an entirely different person.

Gabe does what he's told and sits back into his seat for the rest of the drive, Kain making groaning noises as his head keeps rolling on his shoulders. Ray didn't even bother putting the car into a parking spot as he drove up to the ER entrance of the hospital, before I even had time to get my seatbelt off he was out and around the front of the car to get Kain out.

"Go park the car." He ordered to Gabe, who just nodded with a terrified look on his face.

I jumped out of the car as Gabe got out and went to the driver's seat, following the other two, Ray holding Kain up on his feet and I could see Kain's blood running down his neck. Ray didn't waste any time getting Kain inside the doors of the hospital, telling the receptionist what happened, and we were given a room right away.

Ray helped Kain onto the bed and I got a better look at his face and felt bile rise in my throat, the entire left side of his face was covered in blood, some of it running down into his eye and the front of his scarf was soaked with it. All the noise around me became dull, the voices of the nurse and doctors becoming nothing but white noise.

I jumped as a hand came onto my shoulder in a gentle touch, brining me out of the funk I was in.

"Hey." Ray called to me softly, and I could see the worry in his eyes as he looked in mine. "C'mon, they're gonna take care of him now." He said in that same soft voice as he led me out of the room to the waiting room.

He sat me down and left for a minute, coming back with a paper cup full of water for me. "Thanks…" I mumbled as I took it from him and noticed that I had been shaking.

Ray just stood there staring at me when a nurse approached him, "Mr. Kon, it seems that we have to sedate him, he's not sitting still long enough for us to tend to the wound." She said with a frown, Ray let out a huff.

"That's fine." He said as he took the clipboard the nurse had been holding, signing the papers so they could sedate my brother in order to take care of him. When he was done with the papers, he handed the nurse the clipboard back and sat down beside me as she walked back to the room, running a hand through his hair he let out a deep sigh.

"What am I going to do with that boy?" He mumbled as he shook his head, I wasn't really feeling up to talking right now, but the distraction was better than just sitting in silence.

"You'd think with all those piercings he wouldn't be afraid of a tiny needle to sew him up." He chuckled slightly, and I could feel his eyes shift to me. "Are you alright?" His voice changed back into his soft one as his eyes stayed on my person, eyeing the water I hadn't touched.

No, I wasn't alright. My brother was hurt badly by the man you want to marry, are going to marry, and I feel like my entire world is falling apart around me while I know my other father is at home with a major hangover because of you. You're the last person I want to be alone with right now, but what other choice do I have right now?

I decided to lie to him, just to keep the peace for right now with the situation we were in. "Yeah, just worried."

He laughs beside me, though something about it seems off. "About your brother? He'll be fine… Something else is on your mind, I can tell." He says, and I feel myself tense up. How, how can you tell something is off about me? You don't even know me, I hardly know you.

I set the paper cup down on the table beside me, crossing my arms over my chest not liking how he can easily read me. "It's nothing. Not important." I say, trying to sound like I'm not interested in talking with him anymore. Talking to him about what's going on in my head won't do me any good, we wouldn't be able to find even ground even if we talked till the end of time.

He scoffs beside me and that only riles me up more. "Something your father would say when he didn't want to talk. Alright, I'm here if you want to though." He says in a relaxed tone, and what he said kind of perks my interest.

Maybe that's how he can read me so easily, is that I am just like my other father. He rarely talks about his problems, he just drinks them away… I didn't want to be like that, not really. If we had a chance to fix things, we needed to talk about them, and it wasn't like Ray was a complete stranger butting into my business, he was my father too… I just, never wanted to have to admit it fully. I didn't want to have to endure the heartbreak again when we had to leave, when we would have to go back home and pretend that the rest of our family was miles away without us and us without them.

"It's just a lot different." I manage to say.

"How so?" He asks with a small smile, probably because I'm talking to him.

I shrug my shoulders, I still don't feel comfortable talking with him, but the last few times I have I did feel better; here's to hoping this doesn't become a shit show. "You and Kain and Dad and I. Seeing how the two of you interact, it just shows we grew up a lot differently." I say and there's a waver in my tone that I don't want there.

Ray shifts as if he's uncomfortable in his seat, and I can tell he's trying to pick the right words to say. "I'm guessing that's a bad thing?"

I couldn't help but nod to him. "Dad has always done his best but the first few years in Russia were hard. Dad was just starting out as the CEO still and the moving to the Russian branch was such a big deal, I spent a lot of time alone… I had Dimitri and Tala and Bryan did their best to make up for that absence, but they couldn't be there all the time… Childhood was a really lonely time." I say as I can feel myself sink into myself, not liking the memories that are wanting to play in my head.

"And seeing your brother and I, it hurts? Is that what you meant last night when you fought with Kain?" He asks with a concerned tone. I'm not surprised he knows about the fight we had last night when he wasn't there, I could hear him and Kain talking before he threw the snowball at me.

I didn't feel comfortable looking at him, so I look at the floor, "Yeah… Brought back a lot of memories. Hadn't really thought of the first time I'd really experienced disappointment till last night after everything had happened

"First time?" He asked cautiously, and I nodded again.

"Yeah. There were a few times Dad had missed out on things that were important to me, but the first time hit the hardest. Thinking back on it now it wasn't that big of a thing but at six years old, it was. There was a parent's day where everyone's parents were supposed to visit our kindergarten class and see all of the progress we'd been making. Dad said he'd come but I guess something big had come up at work that day or something…" I trail off as the memory of six-year-old me stood there waiting for him to walk in the door at anytime, only for him to never show up, while you just weren't there at all…

"He never showed up later either?" He asks with a sadness in his voice and I choke back the tears.

"No. The whole day I spent just sitting on my own, watching the other kids show their parents their art and the teacher singing their praises while I got weird looks and jokes made as kids walked by my desk. By the end of the day everyone had left while I was still sitting there. Tala had been at Dimitri's parent's day and decided to pop by to see if we all wanted to get together, only to find me crying in the class room… Never seen him so concerned or yell so loud at Dad afterwards." I crack a small smile at the memory of Tala yelling at my dad, though the memory still hurts.

Ray doesn't respond for a minute before he sighs out beside me, "I'm so sorry... I… I can't believe he would do that... I never wanted that for you... The whole reason I left was, so he would wake up and realize you kids were more important than work."

"I know he didn't mean to. That time was so hectic, and he had to get everything stabilized, but at that age I didn't understand that. I just knew my dad wasn't there and I had no other parent to be there, so often I had to be there for myself. I think I just... I grew up too fast." I say with a shrug as if it's not big deal.

"I'm not saying he meant to either Kyra, but when he took you, he took all responsibility for you. That also means even the littlest of things. Growing up too fast isn't always a good thing either, and shouldering all of this... Have you ever told him how you felt?" He says, and I can tell he's fighting himself from touching me in a comforting way, and I'm glad he doesn't.

I shake my head at him, "I know he already feels bad enough about things that have happened since Tala and Bryan have brought it up multiple times. Bringing it up and him hearing it from me is just going to be like twisting the knife in the wound."

"But if you're hurting because of what happened, you need to be honest with him. I'm not saying to tell him he was a terrible father, he did what he could. But it left you in a place I never wanted for you, and I'm sure he never wanted for you either... You don't have to, but if you're hurting still, it won't hurt anymore or less to bring it up. And even though a lot happened last night, I still hope to keep you in my life and I don't want it to be hard on you having to see me, or your brother." He says to me, and even though he makes a good point I don't know what to think of it just yet.

I pull my arms closer to my chest, shrinking myself more. "It's just a lot. Things have been changing really fast and Kain seems all into this big family thing, but I don't know how I feel… It was just Dad and I and even then, I looked out for myself a lot and took care of dad a lot. Not used to people looking out for me or having this many people around." I finally tell him, everything pouring off the tip of my tongue that I had been holding in.

"I can understand that, it is a lot to adjust to... Especially for you, and I'm sorry it's been this hard for you… Nobody's asking you to jump right into this 'big family thing' right this second, but when you're ready, I'll be there for you." He says with a smile and I turn to him finally and can see that he means what he says, that he has nothing but love for me in his eyes.

I can't help but smile back at him, "Thanks."

His smile only grows until he slightly frowns, "I am sorry though, for not setting something up the way I should have. For trying harder to find you, and for what happened last night."

"Being completely honest, it always felt like I missed out not having both parents. Kain was kind of lucky cause he didn't have any memories of Dad. I remembered you… I spent a lot of time when I was younger wondering if I somehow did something to make you leave." I tell him, knowing that I can be honest and open with him now.

His frown hardens as he looks into my eyes, and I can see the hurt in his eyes. "It was never something you did, and I'm so sorry you ever thought that. We messed up, both of us did when it came to you kids… I failed you both at some points in your lives, and I am so sorry."

I shrug at him, I know he's sorry for what happened, for the problems they both caused our family. "It's okay. I know both of you did your best at that time. I mean, we still all turned out okay." I say, and he laughs.

"You have met your brother, right?"

"He still has a few years to get better." I joke back with him, thankful for the different mood change between us.

"Don't hold out hope, Max and Tyson raised him too." He laughed again, and I felt a smirk coming to my lips.

"If we're talking that way, what does getting raised by Bryan and Tala say for me?"

He pretends to shudder, "I'm afraid to say." He says and then smiles brightly, "When you were a baby, I couldn't keep Tala away from you, he loved you like his own the second you were born. Bryan, as he got older, he changed some, but he was still Bryan. But I knew he was there for you if you needed him. So, I'd say they did a fine job." He says, and his own smirk comes to his lips, "I'd say they raised a fine young man to." He says as he eyes me and my face heats up instantly.

Not you too, I already have Tala and Kain on my case about him, I don't need you butting in too. "Dimitri is okay. I think Tala is a bit too obsessed with him though. Always in his business which always ends up being my business too." I tell him as if I was telling him about the weather.

"Hm. Sounds about right, but who can blame him when he went through so much just to have Dimitri in the first place?" He says, and his smirk gets just a bit bigger. "And he's just 'okay?'" He asks, and I try to hide the blush by turning away from him, spotting the doctor and nurses coming out of Kain's room.

"Oh look, it's the doctor coming out of Kain's room."

"Oh good, he didn't kill them." He says in all seriousness as he stands, he walks about halfway away from me before he turned back around, "Really, just 'okay?'" He asks with a faint smirk.

I narrowed my eyes at him, I didn't want to talk about Dimitri again with him, not with anyone really. I couldn't risk the friendship we had, I didn't want to end up being hurt like my fathers had been by each other.

He held his hands up defensively. "Alright, I give up. You are your father's daughter." He says and shakes his head as he goes towards the doctors.

I could hear Ray and the doctor talking about what they had to do for Kain, he was coming out of the sedative and the wound wasn't that bad and only needed a few stitches, the rock hadn't stuck in and there shouldn't be an infection as long as Kain took the antibiotics they were prescribing him. I felt relieved to know that he would be alright, but then of course he is a Hiwatari and we're tough as rocks.

Ray thanked the doctor just as the nurse wheeled Kain out of the room in a wheel chair, his head was still rolling, and I could see his eyes were slightly glazed over because of the sedative. They had taken off his bloodied scarf and put it in a big blue hospital bag that hung off the handle of the wheelchair, part of me wondered how much they had to fight to get that thing off of him and into the bag without it ripping or them straining themselves because of the weights in it as I remember Gabe had struggled just to hold it back at the wedding venue.

Ray took over for the nurse and motioned for me to follow him, we stopped at the pharmacy to pick up Kain's medicine before we headed outside. Gabe was standing out by the car on his phone, texting away and I smirked as I could feel my phone vibrating in my pocket as it was receiving everything the bastard was typing and receiving back.

"Do you want to sit beside him or up front?" Ray asked me as he was busy putting Kain into the car.

"I'll sit beside him." I said and climbing in on the other side, as I made myself comfortable and hooked my seatbelt in Kain's head rolled towards me and he had a sloppy grin on his face where his fangs showed.

"Hey."

"Hi…" I said a bit leery towards him.

"I feel like I got hit by a truck…" He mumbled as he settled into the seat more, resting his head back.

I eyed the stitches over his brow and sighed heavily as Gabe pulled out of the parking lot. The car became quiet again as we drove down the road, Gabe had tried to touch Ray's hand and he pulled away from him but didn't say anything to him. Halfway down the road Kain made a groaning noise as he shifted beside me.

"Dad…" He croaked out and Ray turned around to face him. "I gotta puke…" He said, and Gabe pulled over just in time as Kain threw the car door open and hurled on the side of the road.

My hand went to Kain's back and rubbed on it in small circles as he heaved, the smell reaching my nose and I fought myself from puking with him.

"It's just the anesthesia, it just needs to get out of his system." Gabe informed us, but I'm not sure if any of us actually cared. Kain wouldn't be puking, in pain, right now if it wasn't for you.

"All better?" Ray asked as Kain pulled himself back into the car, closing the door.

"Yeah…" Kain said breathlessly, shifting himself back into his seat as Gabe pulled back out onto the road. "I'm hungry…"

"I know, did you two still want to go out to dinner with the others?" Ray asked over his shoulder, giving me a questioning look.

"Sure…" Kain nodded as his eyes closed on him.

"I think I'm gonna stay with dad…" I told him, and he nodded without further question.

He was right, I had to talk to dad about the things I had been holding back from him. I couldn't keep opening up to Ray about these problems, and even though I knew it was going to hurt him, dad needed to know how I felt. It was only fair to him, and to myself.

Gabe pulled into his drive between the other cars, and Ray stayed in his seat without even looking like he was about to get out and I felt the tension in the air rise once more. I didn't have to be told, so I got out and woke Kain up to get him into the house. Luckily the sedative was almost out of his system and he was able to stand on his own, even if his balance was slightly off as he walked towards the stairs to the front porch. I went ahead and grabbed the hospital bag with his scarf in it, and to my surprise it wasn't that heavy; Gabe is just a weakling apparently, or it's just another Hiwatari thing since the scarf did belong to dad at one point.

As I followed after Kain I chanced a glance back at Ray and Gabe still in the car, and I could see them arguing heatedly and Ray's pupils were slit as he was yelling at Gabe. I couldn't help the smirk that came to my lips as I turned back around and went up the stairs with Kain, helping him into the house where we were greeted by Tala and Bryan.

"There you guys are, we were getting worried." Tala said and then his eyes widened as he took sight of Kain beside me. "What happened?" He asked, going into full parental mode.

"It's kind of a long story… He's alright though." I said, not sure if I should be the one to tell them what had happened.

Tala put his hands on his hips clearly not liking the answer I gave him as he narrowed his eyes at me. "Kyra Mei." He began only to stop when dad came down the stairs, his crimson eyes looking between all of us and I could tell he was piecing everything together and a hardened frown came to his lips as he pushed past Kain and me to get to the door.

"Dad." Kain called, turning around and grabbing his arm. "It's alright, I'm fine." He said almost pleadingly as he too saw the murderous look in dad's eyes. "Papa's taking care of it, don't worry about it." He said with a clearer voice, and I was more taken back with the new names Kain had given are parents, when had he decided to start calling Kai dad and Ray papa?

Dad looked between us again and turned to me fully. "What about you, are you alright?" He asked, and I could hear the growl in his tone.

"I'm fine, I don't think he would dare do anything to me." I told him, and he nodded.

"This is still not good either way." Tala spoke up behind me, "We didn't think he would try to openly hurt you at all, we can't let this happen again."

"It won't." Kain said back, letting dad's arm go. "We can't let this distract us from what we're doing, lets let Papa handle it right now and we'll deal with everything else still. I'm still here after all, it was just a small rock in a snowball." He said, and the adults nodded, though they didn't look at all convinced and to be honest neither was I. We still had a week left before the wedding, I don't think any of us were willing to stomach being here that long, but Kain was right. We just had to let Ray handle this, while we finished what we started in order to put the bastard away and where he belonged.

We all headed to the kitchen, where Kain got himself a glass of water while dad and my uncles sat at the bar where I stood in front of them, setting Kain's hospital bag down by the doorway and getting the medicine Ray had put inside it, going over the labels and directions for when he needed the medicine and at what dosage to give him. He had an antibiotic and an inflammatory pill that also doubled as a pain medication, both of them had to be taken with food or milk at four-hour intervals.

"Here, you need to take these with you when you go to dinner tonight." I told him, handing him the two pill bottles.

"Thanks." He said uneasy as he took them and pocketed them.

"Ray was still wanting to go and do that, even after this?" Tala asked a bit displeased.

I could only shrug at him, not really sure what to tell him.

"Gabe's not coming." Ray said, and we all turned to him in the doorway of the kitchen and living room, and he put a hand up as dad moved to stand from the bar. "It was an accident Kai, so don't start anything right now. Gabe left for now, but this is still his home, so he'll be back later tonight. We can still go to dinner if you all want, if not we'll just order some take out for the night. I'm not happy with what happened either…" He said as his eyes drifted over to Kain who just shrugged his shoulders at him as if he was playing the whole thing off.

"We'll go tonight." Bryan spoke up and I was once again taken back, though deep down I was grateful that their plans to leave for a while hadn't changed as it gave me the time and privacy that I would need in order to talk to my dad.

"Alright." Ray's eyes lit up a little as he glanced at the clock on the stove. "I have a few things to do around the house before we go, so we'll leave in about an hour or so, sound good?" He asked, and Bryan nodded along with Kain. Tala and dad were the only two who looked like they detested the idea, but neither of them said anything.

Ray didn't say anything after that, grabbing up Kain's hospital bag and going to the garage where the washer and dryer were, not faulting from the weight of the scarf either; maybe Gabe is just a big baby then.

"So… You're not coming?" Kain asked as he looked to dad who was still standing.

"No." Dad answered flatly, and Kain looked disappointed as he turned to me.

"Not tonight." I told him, and he nodded solemnly.

"Okay… I can bring you guys something though?" He said a bit hopeful.

"Sure." I told him, figuring it best not to argue with him right now. "Just text me a picture of the menu and I'll tell you what to get once I take a good look at it."

He smiled at me as he sat his glass down, "Okay, I'm gonna go shower before we leave then." He said as he walked out of the kitchen, it wasn't long before I could hear the shower upstairs turn on.

"Why aren't you going?" Dad asked with a quirked brow at me.

"I'm just tired, don't really feel up to it tonight." I lied, not wanting to start our conversation right off the bat with everyone still there.

"More importantly, why are _we_ still going?" Tala asked looking to his husband.

Bryan shrugged at him as he pushed himself away from the bar, "Cus I'm hungry." Was his answer as he started out of the kitchen, more than likely to go and get Dimitri and let him know for them to get ready to leave in an hour.

"That's a piss poor excuse and you know it!" Tala shouted after him, and I couldn't help the small smile that curled on my lips knowing that he wasn't going to win that fight with his husband. "Fine, I guess we'll go…" Tala sighed as he pushed himself away from the bar and going after Bryan.

"Are you sure you don't want to go?" Dad asked me, and I turned to him and nodded.

"I'm sure, I don't want to leave you here by yourself."

"What if I was going?" He asked with a smirk, though I knew him better than that.

"After what happened yesterday and today, I know you don't want to even be here right now, I'm surprised you haven't packed us all up yet and hauled us into the car." I told him with my own smirk.

"I was about to." He said and crossed his arms over his chest. "After what happened to Kain though… I don't think it'd be smart to just up and leave though, not when we're close to getting everything done."

"I agree, but if you want, we could look for a hotel for the week? Just to make it a bit easier on you?" I said with a soft tone, and he shook his head.

"Thanks for trying to look out for me Kyra, but I'll be fine." He said back mimicking my stance.

I rolled my eyes at him, "Really? Cus the ten bottles of booze in the trashcan say otherwise."

He rolled his eyes back at me, "That's enough now, I appreciate your concern but don't cross that line with me."

"Whatever you say dad." I said when Ray came back into the kitchen, looking between dad and me before he turned back to me.

"Can you give us a minute?" He asked timidly, and I nodded to him before I took my leave to the stairs.

I had hoped that whatever they were going to say wouldn't hurt them further, that maybe they would make amends for what happened last night. I couldn't stand to see my dad in anymore pain than what he was already in, and I started to feel like maybe I shouldn't open up to him tonight when everyone was gone, but it was now or never. If dad and Ray could be honest with each other then I could be open with dad too, I owed that much to myself at least.

When I made it up the stairs Kain was coming out of the shower, dripping water onto the carpet in a towel around his waist, his hair matted down around his face.

"Were you supposed to get those wet?" I asked him, motioning to his stitches.

"I put a bandage over them, not the first-time having stitches in and probably not the last."

"I'm sure but let's make this the last time you get them from someone other than yourself." I told him, and he nodded with a sloppy grin on his face.

"Hey… Um… Can we talk?"

"Can you get dressed first?" I asked, and he looked down at himself as if he just realized that all he had on was a towel.

"Yeah, give me a minute and I'll meet you outback?" He said and slipped into his room, closing the door behind him.

I went ahead and stepped out onto the back porch, taking a seat on one of the lounge chairs and waited for him as I smoked a cigarette, thankful for the nicotine and the alone time to just unwind before everything came back to crash around me. I wasn't stupid, I knew Kain wanted to talk in order to apologize for last night, and I wanted the same, but I wasn't sure if I would be fully ready to forgive him yet, but I needed to try at least and get on a better path before we continued like this.

He didn't keep me waiting long, forgoing drying his hair and letting it hang around his face and neck instead of his usual spikey style and he eyed my almost finished cigarette.

"Don't happen to have one more of those, do you?" He asked looking at it almost hungrily.

"Nope, this was my last one." I said with a smirk and gave him the rest of mine, which he looked more than pleased to have and took a long drag from it.

"Damn I missed that." He said almost breathlessly, and I shook my head at him for stalling.

"What'd you want to talk about?" I said impatiently, and he walked over to the railing across from the lounge chair I was sitting on and leaned his back against it.

"I wanted to apologize… For the things I said to you last night, it wasn't right of me to yell at you like I did… I had no right to say those things I did… And I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like I didn't want you here, if you ever felt like you were being put on the back burner while here… I'm really sorry Kyra, for everything… I didn't want that to ever happen, or make you feel like you weren't wanted here with us." He said as he tossed the finished cigarette over the railing, coming and sitting beside me.

"You said a lot of things that really hurt me." I told him, and he nodded as he looked at the ground. "Did you even mean anything you had said last night?" I asked him, holding my breath for his answer.

"The only thing I meant was when I had said that I wanted you all here for your benefit and not mine… When we found out that we were siblings, back at camp, it felt like I had found out that I was this completely different person than who I really was. I mean, I'm the son of _the_ Kai Hiwatari, with a sister I never knew about much less existed. It was like everything I knew about myself, about my life, just didn't seem true anymore… Like I had to be a different person than who I was before because of it all, but I made my peace with it in the end… I wasn't someone different, I was still me, all I did was learn the truth and that's what I wanted for you too." He explained while I listened intently to what he said, not knowing what he felt because I had always known about Ray and maybe even a little bit about him too, I was so young when we moved away that my memories of Kain aren't as strong as those of Ray are, and even those are still fuzzy.

"We deserved the truth from them, for them to admit to their faults and to know why they did what they did to us, and to each other…" He finished, and I nodded, that he was right about.

Dad and Ray had already made good on that though, we both had learned what had happened and why they did the things they did. There wasn't anything we could do to change the past though, but I was finally glad to have known the truth, that it wasn't anything I had done to cause Ray to leave me, for dad to keep me away from the rest of our family.

"I'm scared." He said and at that my eyes met his. "I'm scared for when you leave that you'll never come back… That everything we've done up to now will have been for nothing, that I'll go back to not having you and dad in my life… I'm scared that I made you hate me for what I said last night…" He choked out, and I could see the tears at the corners of his crimson eyes, and I felt my own come to mine.

"I don't hate you." I managed not to choke on my words. "I'm sorry too, for making you think I did… We shouldered too much on our own, trying to do all this on top of our own problems and it all just came out. When we go back… I want to stay in your life, I don't want to go back to how it used to be without knowing about you… Besides, I can't let those extra tickets go to waste." I said in a more playful tone as I nudged him in the side, not liking how deep and heavy everything had been going today. I was tired of all the tears and the hurt, I didn't like seeing him so torn up about the things he said last night nor, did I like feeling the same for the things I had said to him.

"We're going to fight, we're siblings after all." I continued in my playful tone and he smirked at me. "But I forgive you, for what you said last night and whatever other stupid fight you might get us into." I laughed, and he did too as he nudged me back in the side like I had done to him.

"I forgive you too."

"Who knew having a younger brother would be such a pain in the ass?" I joked, and he smiled at me, a fang sticking over his lower lip.

"Would you love me if I was anything but who I am?" He joked along with me, and we both laughed a bit harder and it felt good to laugh with him.

"You're right, I wouldn't." I said and stood, holding my hand out for him to take.

He jumped himself off the lounge chair, taking me up into a tight hold that I reciprocated. So much for having a younger brother that was taller than you, as I had to rest my head on his shoulder.

"Let's finish what we started then." He said as he let me go.

"You mean what you started." I joked back, and his smile grew.

"Ha, right. Looks like I'm paying for that now." He said as he touched his stitches and I frowned as I looked at them again.

"We'll get him back for doing that to you."

"Damn right we will." He said in his usual cocky tone.

"Alright Cocky Bastard, lets go back in, you have to go get me dinner after all." I said and pushed him towards the doors.

His smile only got bigger at the mention of his nickname, and I shuddered as I knew what was coming next as he opened the door and bowed at me. "After you, Sassy Bitch."

I rolled my eyes at him as I walked past him, dad was coming up the stairs at the same time with a quirked brow from what he had heard Kain call me.

"Don't call your sister that." He ordered almost angrily.

"It's fine, it's just my nickname." I told him, not wanting the two of them to fight. "His is Cocky Bastard." I told him, and he just shook his head at the two of us as he went to his room.

"You sure you don't want to come to dinner with us?" Kain asked me once we heard the door to dad's room close.

"Yeah… I have a few things I need to do anyways." I told him as I started for dad's room after him. "Have a good night, I'll see you later. And make sure you take your medicine." I told him sternly and he saluted at me only for me to roll my eyes at him before I slipped into dad's room, closing the door behind me.


	29. Chapter 29

**Kai's POV**

Once Kyra had left the kitchen Ray just stood off to the side of me for a moment in silence and I could tell he was now slowly regretting having Kyra leave in order to talk to me alone. I didn't blame him though, it wasn't like I really wanted to talk to him either at this point in time, I had told him all I needed to last night and a lot of good that did me.

There's a tension starting to rise in the room and I can see him trying to think of something to say as he opts for going to the fridge and takes out a can of soda, holding one out at me.  
"...You want some?"

"No thanks..." I tell him, not sure why he even wanted to talk to me right now, though I feel like I can't leave just yet as a part of me wants to hear what he has to say to me, so I take a seat back at the bar and rest my hands over the counter top.

"Ok..." He says a little disappointed, and I smirk inside since I foiled that plan of his. He puts the cans back without even getting his own and

turns to me and waits, and I can see him scrambling to think of what he wants to say to again.

"Kai listen... About last night..." He starts with little confidence in his tone and I cut him off, not wanting to hear anything out of his mouth.

"I don't want to really talk about it right now..." I tell him in a warning tone, hoping that he'd just drop the subject but I still make no move to leave the kitchen.

He stiffens a little and looks like he doesn't want an argument, but I can tell he'll be damned if he wants to do things my way and leave it hanging because I said so.

"... Well I do... There's enough going on in this place right now without this... Thing... Between us." He says and gestures at me and I snort at him.

"There's nothing between us, you made that pretty clear last night." My tone doesn't change as I narrow my eyes at him, not missing the feeling of my heart breaking again.

I poured my heart out to him, the last thing I need right now is a reminder of what will never be again.

His golden eyes soften as he speaks, "Is that enough for you? Because it isn't for me... You're not the only one hurting here... You know how I feel about you, but it's just too late for that, like I told you... But that doesn't mean I want us to be like this..." His voice trails and I can hear the hurt in his tone, but I don't really care. He brought this on himself when he left me.

"And I told you Ray, I can't pretend just to be your friend... Not when I still love you." I say in a low whisper, knowing full well he can still hear me across the kitchen.

He looks at me as if I physically hurt him, and he frowns. "... Pretend? After everything, you'd pretend to be my friend? You'd rather me be nothing to you? After all we've been through?" He asks and I shake my head at him.

I hate it when he throws my words back in my face, he's always been good at that. "That's not what I meant, I can't pretend that we didn't have something before, that I haven't let you go yet when I should have. I'd rather you be with me, like we used to be and because of that I can't be your friend. I wouldn't be a good friend like that." I tell him, fighting my voice from wavering. I was never good with expressing my feelings and even now that I'm older it's still a trait that I have and hate.

His voice cracks as he's on the verge of tears now. "You haven't even tried... It's not my fault you didn't come back, Kai. Just like it isn't your fault that I moved on or that you feel the way you do, now that there's no going back, maybe you can move on and meet someone new..." I can see that he hurts just saying that, and my own heart hurts at the thought, I don't want someone else, I never wanted anyone else.

"It's hardly easy for me either… You know I still... For you… But... I don't want us to be strangers to each other... Not again." He says as the first few tears seep out of his eyes.

I meet his eyes and my heart sinks further, I was never good at seeing him cry, especially because of me. I've always seemed to do that to him too, never there for him when he needed me with the kids, not there to help him raise our daughter and our son, he should hate me more than anything than what he still feels for me. But I had missed him, will always miss what we had. I know things won't work with him and Gabe because of what our plans our and part of me wants to just outright tell him, but right now he has no chance of believing me as it'll just look like a way for me to get him back.

I can only shake my head at him, "I can't give you want you want Ray... For the kids' sake, I'll be civil." I tell him as I push away from the bar.

He rushes forward and takes hold of my wrist, his touch sending a shock through me that I didn't want or need **.** "Don't you dare do this to me again, Kai! Don't you dare run from me! You mean far too much to me to just be a 'Hey, merry Christmas and hope you're well' once a year!" His voice is sarcastic and mixed with almost panic and some anger in his tone, his grip on my wrist almost death like.

"What do you want me to do then Ray? Just act like I don't have these feelings for you when we see each other, if we ever do, and how is that fair to either of us? Will you be fine with that, seeing me with someone else?"

"...I just want you to be happy..." He doesn't sound convincing, but I let it slide. "...If you love me like you say you do, you'd want the same for me."

"I do want you happy... But I don't think you'll have that with the man you're with now." I can't hide the anger in my tone, not with knowing that he hurt my son and Ray still wants to marry him even after that. "I'm not saying this to get you back, but he's not the right man for you or the right kind of person to be around our kids, not when he hurts one of them."

He goes silent for a second before throwing away my wrist "You really are a piece of work, you know that? You'll say anything..."

"He hurt Kain, and you're going to stand there and say I'm the piece of work?" I scoff, almost thankful that he's angry at me now.

His eyes slit at me, "Oh and you were there, were you? You saw what happened?" He asks sarcastically and crosses his arms over his chest.

"I didn't need to be there to know it was him Ray. You shouldn't be getting angry at me over this."

"Shouldn't be angry!? You're accusing my soon to be husband of hurting our son! It was an accident! If you'd been around, I'm sure you would have made a few yourself, too!" He yells at me and immediately I can tell he hadn't meant to say that, that he was just speaking out of hurt and anger.

Even though I want to lash out back at him for that jab, I stay calm which looks as if it's confusing him now. "And it'll just be an accident when my fist meets his face, won't it?" I tell him plainly, meaning every word I said. One way or another the bastard will get a face full of my fists at some point, not just for hurting my son but also putting Ray through everything he has been.

His eyes slit further into a thinner line in his eyes and his fangs start to bare, "You dare touch him..."

"Or you'll what?" I smirk down at him, crossing my arms over my chest.

"... Or you'll end up with injuries far worse than Kain... And I WILL do it on purpose..." He threatens, though it does nothing but cause my smirk to get bigger as I step towards him, causing him to back up into the fridge.

"Then go ahead, I'm right here." I tell him, crowding him in against the fridge.

His back presses up against the fridge, while trying to keep the angry look on his face, though I could see him starting to shake. "D-don't tempt me, Hiwatari! I'll fuckin' do it!" He shouted, looking like a scared and trapped cat.

"Then do it." I taunted, my heart rate picking up with how close I was to him now. He was close enough I could kiss him, and I was half tempted to though something Kain had said a while back flitted through my mind when I had told him I wasn't going to make Ray cheat on Gabe, 'you may not have to, he might do that all on his own.' he had said, and I silently hoped to God his was right.

He looked like a scared lost child as he racked his brain for something to say, "I..." Was about all he managed, and so I stepped back from him, letting him breathe a bit easier without me towering over him.

"And this is what you missed is it? This constant fighting?" Even though I was disappointed that he hadn't done anything, maybe it was for the better after all that he didn't cross that line, no matter how badly I wanted him to.

"Not the fighting... Just you..." He says with a sigh as I can see his shoulders relax.

"Why?" I can't stop the words from slipping out of my mouth.

He hesitates, maybe losing his resistance. Things were bad enough and fucked up between us as it was, but I wanted to hear him say it; even if it was the last time he'd tell me.

"...You know why..."

"I'm afraid I don't Ray." I say, not taking his bait. If he wasn't going to take mine, I sure as hell was not taking his.

He shakes his head at me, looking me in the eyes pleadingly **.** "Please don't make me say it..."

I couldn't help but frown at him, "Then don't, just act like you never did and never have. It'll make everything that much easier on the two of us." I bite back.

"...Damnit, Kai! I'm trying to make things good here!"

"Then maybe you should have thought of that before you left me! You want me to be your friend but I can't!... Not again Ray... If you want me to be happy with someone else than I will be..." My heart hurts as I say that to him, and without thinking I step up to him once more and brush back his bangs, "But I will always love you."

His lips tremble as he brings his hand up to touch my hand, leaning his cheek into it. "And I'll always love you, you know that... That's why I can't bare you to go..." My heart would have soared from hearing that, but the way his eyes looked I could tell he wasn't about to back out of the wedding, that I was going to lose him no matter what I said or did. Even when Gabe was long gone and out of the picture, it wouldn't matter.

"Please… Please don't leave me again…" His voice shook as his grip on my hand got tighter, his body trembling as tears poured down his cheeks.

"Ray… I…"

"Please, Kai. I'm begging you…" His eyes locked onto mine and I stepped closer to him but this time he didn't back away, even when my lips moved to his. The anticipation built up in the pit of my stomach as his trembling seemed to stop and his chin lifted in order to meet my lips, though they never touched as I rested them on his forehead; where his headband used to sit in our youth.

"I won't…" I breathed, even though I knew it would only hurt me more to have agreed to stay with him longer, to just be friends and just co-parenting our children like we always should have, but not as lovers or anything more…

"If it means that much to you, I won't, okay?" I said as I pulled away meeting his eyes again, and he smiled faintly at me.

"Thank you…" He mumbled, pulling out of my hold and wiping his face with the back of his sleeve. "Did… Did you want to come to dinner with us?" He asked, and I shook my head at him.

"Maybe another time, Kyra's going to stay and I don't want to leave her alone." I told him, and he seemed to understand as he nodded.

"I… I should probably get ready and make sure Kain is ready to go then…" He said as he started to walk past me.

I don't know why, but I reached out and grabbed his hand and pulled him back to me, kissing him gently on the lips. He didn't flinch or move, he didn't reel back and hit me across the face like I thought he would, like I was half expecting. Nothing happened, there was a small spark but it wasn't as strong as it used to be and I let him go for good.

"Sorry…"

"It's fine…" He said breathlessly, his face turning red as he turned from me to retrieve our son, though he just walked straight to Gabe's room and shut the door behind him.

Once the door was shut I headed upstairs, meeting the kids coming back into the house from the back porch at the same time.

"After you, Sassy Bitch." Kain said as he held the door open for Kyra, and I felt my blood boil almost instantly as my brow quirked at them since Kyra didn't reel back and hit her brother.

"Don't call your sister that." I ordered sternly.

"It's fine, it's just my nickname." Kyra said quickly, looking like she was ready to jump between the two of us. "His is Cocky Bastard." She informed and all I could do was shake my head at the both of them as I went to the room I was staying in; what the hell was wrong with my children?

I was barely to the bed when my door opened, and Kyra stepped in, closing the door behind her.

"Hey, can we talk?" She asked stepping closer to the bed.

I sighed as I sat on the edge of it, motioning towards the chair at the desk that sat by the door. I was a bit tired of talking, but I never wanted to shut my daughter out if she needed to talk to me. Then it hit me, she wasn't going to dinner because she was tired, she wanted the alone time to be able to talk to me without interruptions.

"What's on your mind Kyra?" I asked, settling on the mattress as she sat in the chair across from me.

She shrugged her shoulders, her attention slightly turned to the door and then she turned back to me. "Sorry, just making sure they're gone now."

"Your senses are coming in a lot better now?" I asked, and she nodded at me.

"Yeah… It's a bit overwhelming, first the smells and then the speed and now hearing… Sometimes I get headaches…" She said, and I frowned, I didn't know she had that kind of problem.

"I'm sorry…"

"It's alright, papa said it was going to happen." She said as she shrugged again.

"I haven't heard you call him that in years." I said with a small smirk and she smiled at me.

"With Kain calling you dad now, I thought maybe it was time I started again." She explained, and I could only smile at her.

That kind of step forward wasn't something she would have done on her own, not with the way she was, so it must have meant that her and Ray had finally bonded the way they needed to for her to even want to start calling him papa again.

"Do you hate me?" I asked, and her face fell slightly before she bit into her lip.

"Why would I?"

"Because I kept you away from them all these years, that I wasn't always there to give you what you needed because of work or other things. That I kept us away because I was more scared than just doing the right thing for us all."

"I wouldn't say I hate you for it, but it was hard… I didn't have the same kind of childhood the other kids had because they had two parents… As I got older, I understood, but at that point in time it hurt… But dad… I never hated you for what you did, and I still don't so don't ever think that." She said, and I could tell she spoke with nothing but love and I felt the guilt in my stomach but at least I knew I still had her love even after all I had done.

"Is this what you wanted to talk about then?"

"Yeah…" She answered and rubbed her arm. "I just wanted you to know that I love you, and even though you gave me the best childhood that you possibly could it also lacked in certain things. I missed out on certain things, you missed out on a lot of things because of work. Papa said that he left because he wanted you to realize that we were more important than work, and I just… I want to make sure that you understand that when we go back home… That we don't go back to the way things used to be."

My heart hurt to have to hear her say that, but I was glad she was being honest with me. I always wanted her to be open and honest with me, no matter how hard it hurt to hear what she needed to tell me.

"Kyra… I can't promise that certain things won't change, but I can promise to keep trying, to keep doing better for you and your brother. This trip alone has really opened my eyes to the things I've been blind to, things that I know I need to change. I've lost Ray, and I'll be damned if I lose you and your brother again." I told her in all seriousness and she cocked an eyebrow at me.

"What do you mean you lost papa? I thought…" She trailed, and I could see it in her eyes that she had heard us downstairs, and now I was cursing her new hearing abilities.

I shook my head as I took in a deep breath, "We'll always love each other, but it's time I let him go. We still have you two, and the good memories we had but I can't keep holding out hope that he'll come back… Not after everything I put him through."

"But dad… What about Gabe?" She asked me with concern in her tone.

"We're still going to expose the bastard, but even still it's not like Ray is just going to run back into my arms. I'm not some hero that's saving the day or anything, I'm just making sure my kids are safe."

"Dad…" She tried again in a soft tone and I shook my head at her.

"Kyra, don't. I'm making peace with it, and you should too… Kain was right, I avoided him all his life, what kind of father, _man_ , does that make me? To have abandoned my son like that, and to hope that his other parent would just welcome me back with open arms like nothing happened after keeping his daughter away from him? I'm luckily enough that Ray doesn't want to lose our friendship at all, that he hasn't kicked us out or tried to take you from me."

"I told you dad, I'm fixing to be eighteen, and you know I wouldn't let him do that."

I smirked at her, "I know malyshka, but still. I just want to build the friendship we had a long time ago and stay with that." I told her as the feeling of his lips on mine had yet to die away even after it being a few good minutes.

"Well Kain isn't going to be happy to hear that." She said with a hint of annoyance and playfulness as she crossed her arms over her chest and one leg over the other as she sat back into the chair.

"Wouldn't be the first time I've disappointed him."

"Stop that, he doesn't hold it against you and you shouldn't anymore either." She said sternly, going into mother Kyra mode as her eyes narrowed at me.

"And what have I done to deserve that?" I asked meeting her eyes, and she sighed and shook her head at me.

"I don't like it when you talk like that you know, so stop it. Invite him to stay with us in Russia for a while or something, make it up to him now instead of sitting in the past about the things you _could_ have done." She tells me, and I smile at her because she's right.

"And what about you, what can I do to make it all up to you?" I asked.

"I told you, I wanted a puppy." She said playfully, "But maybe take it a bit easier at work, be home more often and not just for me but for yourself. You work way too hard as it is, take a breather. In all honesty, this is the longest you've been away from work before and I think it's been good for you." She said.

I would have agreed with her if I hadn't just gone through hell and back with her father, that I wasn't about to expose the asshole who was stealing and cheating on her father, that my son got hurt because of him and I couldn't do anything to him yet because of it.

"I don't want to lose them again either when we go back…" Her voice wavered slightly, and she rubber at her arm again. "If it wasn't for Dimitri, Tala, Bryan, Sven and his parents… I don't think I even want to go back…"

"Kyra…" I started, knowing where she was going with this, but I just didn't have it in me to tell her we couldn't.

"But why? Why can't we stay here dad? This is where our family is, and if papa just wants to be friends then when will we ever see them again?" She cried out with tears in her eyes.

I got up and went to her, taking her up in my arms where she threw hers around my neck. It wasn't often that my daughter cried, and every time she did it hurt me to see her so broken down and hurt. I ran my fingers through her hair that reminded me so much of Ray's, as she cried against my chest.

"What if you stayed here?" The second I said those words she pulled back as if I had hurt her, her eyes wide.

"What?"

"It wouldn't be forever, but what if you stayed here with Ray and Kain?" I said as I brushed back her hair behind her ear.

"What about you?"

I shook my head at her, "I can't Kyra… It would be too hard to come around Ray more than I needed to. Maybe one day I'll move back, but not right now."

"But dad…" She pleaded, and I shook my head again.

"You're free to choose what you want to do, and I won't be upset with whatever you decide. If you wish to stay with your father and brother then I'll be fine with that, if you want to come back home with me, I won't complain. Either way, the choice is yours to make." I said as I pulled away from her, she just looking at me with a questioning look as I could tell she was thinking it over.

"You don't have to decide tonight but think it over and do what you feel is best. You will always be welcomed back home though; don't ever think you aren't." I told her as I went back to the bed and she nodded, taking her seat back in the chair as she wiped away the tears from her face.

Her mouth opened to speak before it closed shut again and her attention went to the door and she frowned.

"They're home…" She mumbled, and it wasn't long before Kain was knocking on the door and she got up to let him in.

"Hey, you never responded to my text, so I just got you what I got. It's really good." He told her as he held the bag out to her, and then his brow arched. "You okay?" He asked, noticing the tear stains on her cheeks.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" She waved him off, taking the bag from him and setting the food on the desk as she pulled out two little black to-go-boxes, bringing me mine before going back to the chair.

"How was dinner?" I asked as I opened mine to find large portion of noodles and steak pieces in a teriyaki sauce.

Kain shrugged as he closed the door, leaning up against it. "It was fine, the grown ups talked about nothing fun and Dimitri didn't feel like talking with me, so I ended up texting Matt through most of it."

"How's that going?" I asked after taking a bite of the food he brought me.

"It's going, I guess…" He shrugged again, but I didn't miss the hurt in his voice.

"He doesn't want to try again?" I asked, and he shook his head.

"Doesn't look like it, but I don't blame him… I'm the one that fu… Screwed up…" He said, and I knew all too well what he meant.

"I'm sorry to hear that." I said, and I meant it. Matt seemed like a good kid even with what Ray had told me about his flirting with other people when they were together, that I didn't like so much but, in the end, it was my son that stepped out of line.

"It's fine, don't worry about it we have other things to worry about." He waved his hand at my words and I frowned, though Kyra piped up between her eating before I could get a word in.

"Don't waste your breath, he's given up." She said dryly, and I narrowed my eyes at the back of her head at her choice of words.

"What do you mean?" Kain asked looking to me next with a raised brow.

"Papa just wants to be friends, so dad has decided to throw in the towel. But don't worry, we're still going to get the bastard." She informed but his look didn't change.

"So, what if he just wants to be friends? He doesn't get a choice in the matter, okay? You can't just give up like that, not after everything you two said to each other." He said, and I groaned on the inside.

"Is there ever a time you don't eavesdrop on conversations?" I asked as I rolled my eyes.

"Nope." He said truthfully, and I finally realized why Kyra chose the nickname she had for him. "Seriously though, don't give up yet. He still loves you, you still love him. It wouldn't be fair to either of you for you to just say 'nope, I'm done now.' I didn't take a rock to my head for it to end this way." He huffed at me and I could only shake my head at him, why did they both have to get my stubbornness?

"And what do you want me to do exactly Kain?" I asked in annoyance and Kyra looked to him with a raised brow. "I can't help it if he doesn't want to try again, you know that better than anyone." I didn't want to have to dig that knife in like that, but maybe he would better understand if I made it clear that he knew exactly what was going on.

"Who said I was giving up?" He said nonchalantly, "I never once said I was going to give up."

"And how do you plan on making him love you again then?" I asked sarcastically.

He shrugged his shoulders, "Do what I did before, just be me, and be there for him when he needed me. And papa needs you there for him, he needs you to just be you."

"And when it doesn't work?" I asked with a sigh.

"You're too negative, you know that?" He said as he plucked a piece of steak out of Kyra's box, getting hit in the arm from her. "Don't worry about the what ifs, just go with the flow." I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him.

"You sound like Tyson…"

"He did help raise me." He shrugged, going to pick another piece of steak from his sisters box which earned him another hard smack on his hand. "So, what do you say?" He asked as he shook his hand out.

"Are you giving me a choice in the matter?"

"No." Both my children said in unison.

"He's right dad, just go with the flow." Kyra parroted Kain's words and I inwardly groaned again.

"I love you both dearly, but please don't say that again…"

They looked at each other with smirks on their lips, Kain's fangs sticking out before they turned back at me. "GO WITH THE FLOWWWWWW." They said in unison again, laughing with each other.

"Go to beddddd, it's late." I said, and they frowned at me.

"It's barely seven." Kyra said as she looked at her phone.

"And I'm tired, go on get out." I shooed at them, not wanting to continue with this banter between them.

They both frowned at me but did what I said, Kyra taking her box with her.

"Night dad." She huffed at me before stepping out of the room.

"Night."

Kain stayed back for a minute, and I tensed at the anticipation of what he might say now.

"Just don't give up on him yet, okay?" He said quickly and slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him before I had a chance to say anything back.

I sighed and set the box he had given me down as I became lost in my thoughts, it already wasn't easy having to have done all I had up to this point. To have to face Ray and my son after all these years, to opening up to Ray about how I felt for it to just get thrown back in my face. I wasn't one to just 'go with the flow' as my children so eloquently put it, I always had a plan and a way of dealing with things, but I was slowly starting to realize that those plans were sinking, and they were sinking fast.


	30. Chapter 30

**Author's Note:**

 **There are two songs in this that are quiet beautiful and I think reflects a lot about the story. The first is Dancing on Broken Glass by Poets of the Fall and the second one is called Stay, also by Poets. I don't own the songs or anything, but they are both wonderful songs.**

 **So, this is it guys, the final end to this story. It hadn't been easy to write these last two chapters, as it was like I was saying goodbye to my own family. This story has been such an amazing ride, and to have been able to do it with Misfit has been such an honor and even more so with all the love and support we received from you all. So, thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you and enjoy.**

* * *

 **Kain's POV**  
It had finally come, the day I think all of us were dreading. One minute, it seemed like it would take forever to get here, and the next thing we knew here it was.

It took all we could just to convince dad to even come, he had really given up on papa and we were left with constantly trying to remind him that papa was NOT going to marry Gabe, one way or another.

Honestly, I don't even know why papa is still trying to do this after the way he's been acting around Gabe. Anytime they're together, papa will just up and leave the room, it doesn't even matter if it's in the middle of a conversation, he'll just up and leave. Past few nights he's even gone to sleeping in my room, he won't tell me why even though I've asked multiple times. Regardless, he's been acting strange since the snowball incident, which has left me with one badass scar on my temple, maybe that's why he's been acting this way?

I check over my shoulder at him fiddling with his suit in the mirror, it's been kind of comical watching him fuss so much about how he looks for today. I've been trying to tie this damn tie for maybe 30 minutes now, and since I need to make sure we have everything in order before the big event really gets underway I call to him.

"I'm gonna go see if dad can help me with this." I tell him, holding the end of my white tie up that's been hanging loosely around my neck.  
He turns and looks at me, in his eyes I can see he's a bit perplexed by me calling Kai 'dad' now.

"I'm right here? I can help you know?" He sounds a little hurt, but I'm not doing this to hurt him.  
"You're still not done getting yourself ready, I'll be back in a minute anyways." I say waving him off as I head for the door.

"Okay..." He accepts defeat with a sigh and turns back to the mirror to fuss over himself again. If he keeps this up he'll be late for his own wedding; which might be the better alternative than the shit storm that's about to happen.

I head outside to find my dad and the others, they're in their own little circle behind the chairs that have all been placed in order to watch the ceremony in front of the pond. There's a white arch with blue and white flowers adorning it, and a white runner that leads down the aisle. It's actually really beautiful, with the weeping willows and cherry blossoms around the pond, and for a second I feel a bit sad that this is going to go all to waste; especially the cake.

"Hey, can you get this for me?" I reach my father and sister, Tala Bryan and Dimitri surrounding him like his personal body guards with Spencer and Sven and his mother.

Dad had called them to come over since Spencer is this big hot-shot lawyer and we needed him to be here to handle all the legal paperwork that's sure to follow after today. I had never met Spencer until now, but Sven is the spitting image of him, height and all, as he's the tallest man I have ever seen in my life. In his suit and tie he looks like a bouncer more than lawyer, and even Sven looks just like a mini version of him.

Dad gives me a questioning look before he sticks his cigarette between his lips and steps up to tie my tie. "Ray couldn't get this for you?" He asks as his eyes focus on his task.

"He could, if he wasn't so busy fussing over himself. Plus, I needed to make sure everything was ready for when he comes out." I tell him with a shrug, and before I know it he steps back from his work. "Thanks dad." I say and tuck the tie into my black suit jacket.

Dad just gives me a half smile with his cigarette still stuck between his lips as he takes his previous spot in the small semi-circle they've created.  
"How is everything coming together?" I turn to Kyra, who has been busy on her phone.

"Just a few more tweaks and it should be good, Victor says the hook ups are almost done." She says without looking over the screen of her phone, texting Chief and Thomas as they prepare the 'surprise'; as I like to call it.

"Are we sure this isn't going to give Ray a heart attack?" Tala asks, looking over Kyra's shoulder as he reads her texts.  
"Might put him in shock, at best." I shrug, but once again, I'm not doing this to hurt him.

"We did notify the police, right?" Dimitri asks, getting a collective nod of heads from the others around us.

"It should be ready now Kain." Kyra says after a moment of silence, placing her phone into the little clutch she has at her side.

"Awesome, I'll go see if he's ready then." I turn back around and head for the building across the field to the room I had left my other father in.

I don't bother to knock, just throwing the door open and he jumps out of his skin, a cigarette in between his fingers as he's hanging halfway out the back window of the room. He doesn't smoke often, at least not as bad as Dad does, he's more of a stress smoker. I can't help but smirk at him, showing him my fangs and he looks between me and the cigarette a few times before he tosses it out the window.

"Don't you dare say a word." He starts as he closes the window, and I hold my hands up defensively.  
"You don't have to do this, if you don't want to." It would save all of us from the pain I'm about to inflict on you.

"No... No, I want to..." He stammers and goes back to the damn mirror. "Is... Is everyone here?" He asks as he glances at me through the reflection of the glass.

He doesn't know that dad and the others came since we had left the house hours prior, that was mainly due to Kyra and the others still trying to convince dad to come, and then them making sure they got all of our things out of Gabe's place so we wouldn't have to go back to if after tonight; which I was more than grateful for.

"Yeah, Kyra managed to drag his butt here. See? He did my tie for me." I remind him since I don't expect him to be of sound mind right now, and certainly not later.

He just nods and spins around holding his arms out. "How do I look?"  
"Fine to me." I shrug, and he pouts at me.

"You're supposed to be a bit more enthused ya know?"

"I think that's your job as the groom to be enthused." I laugh at him and he cracks a smile, I haven't seen him smile since the snowball incident. "You ready to go then?"

"Where's Max?" And now I can see he's stalling.

"Do you want me to go get him?" I ask, and he nods.

"Ugh, alright hold on." I can't but help roll my eyes as I leave him in the room for second time, going off to find my uncle.

Luckily we almost ran into each other when I walked by the bathrooms, and after a quick explanation of why my papa needed him he patted me on the shoulder and walked towards the room I had come from; he was more equipped to deal with him than I was after all. Since there wasn't much left for me to do, I went back outside to wait with the others.

* * *

 **Ray's POV**  
"Ray?" Max's voice comes through the door and I have just enough time to stop my pacing before he steps inside. "You look like shit." He laughs at me and I frown at him, not the greeting I was hoping for or needed right now, but what else are best friends for?

"I know." I want to pull my hair out at this point, I've never been this nervous before. "I think I might puke..." I voice my thoughts and go to sit down, but my legs are like jelly. Thankfully Max notices and rushes to my side, helping me sit down as the room begins to spin. "What is wrong with me?" I can barely hear myself say as I try to take in deeper breaths to calm myself.

"You're fixing to get married in front of thirty plus people, including the father to your children." He says bluntly, and if I could I would have slapped him for saying that.

Yeah, the father of my children that would rather be anywhere but here at this point in time. The father to my children who kissed me less than a week ago as his way of getting rid of me, who probably only lied to me about staying as friends because he didn't want to see me hurt… Yet I am… I wasn't able to get that kiss out of my head, the things we said to each other or anything no matter how hard I tried. He wanted to let me go, but I just couldn't do the same, I didn't want to and never wanted to… I love him…

"Can you possibly not be so blunt?" I ask Max as he smiles brightly at me.

"But that's why you love me." He smiles and rubs my back for me. "You don't have to do this ya know?"

"I know..." I can't really wrap my head around the idea of doing this, so why am I still going through the motions of it all? Do I really want to do this?

"I want to." I say a bit more firmly, and yet even as those words pass my lips something in the back of my mind is screaming at me not to walk out those doors and down that aisle.

Max takes a deep breath beside me, and his hand stops rubbing my back. "Well, we can't very well do this without you so let's go." He wraps a hand around my arm and hoists me up, if it wasn't for him holding me I would have fallen over.

"Are you gonna walk me all the way?" I ask like I'm a three year old going to the doctors for the first time.

"What are best men for?" He chuckles at me and opens the doors.

Even though where the vows are to take place is quite a walk away, I can see everyone in their chairs waiting and my heart stops. My mouth gets drier the closer Max pulls me to the aisle, my feet are digging into the grass on their own accord and my arms get shaky. I keep trying to repeat in my head that I want to do this, that I love Gabe enough to do this. Then, my eyes shift to crimson and I feel as though my heart has been stabbed.

The last kiss playing in my mind and I can feel my breath hitch in my throat, my arms get shaky. Even though he had avoided me like the plague the past week I was happy he was here, it felt like I needed him here even if it was to see me marry another man… I am such a screwed up man…

I wanted to run but Max had different ideas for me though, as he pulled me closer and closer to the archway. My eyes were locked with Kai's the entire time, and for a moment it felt like we were the only two there and the little devil in the back of my mind was telling me it was supposed to be him waiting for me, because it should have been, all along it should have been him! I quickly snap out of my staring, just now realizing that I have had my full attention on Kai the entire time and I was on his, when my hands are placed in cold ones.

"Are you alright?" Gabe squeezes my hand as he whispers into my ear.

I wet my lips and turn to meet his pale green eyes. "Perfect." I chance a smile, I don't think it fooled anyone.

"The kids prepared something for us." Gabe tells me, and it sounds like his words are being spoken through a wind tunnel.

He gently turns me to face a projector screen that's been placed right before the archway, when did that get there? It wasn't there before... Was it? I realize Max isn't beside me now either, all I'm doing is holding onto Gabe's hand as the blank screen lights up with life, the faint sounds of a song playing in the background.

 _This place, a palace of light drawn with shade. Of silence and pretense a token of our trade. And here you and I lie wreathed in flames, all over a life lived by making up new games. Of gazes and whispers._

The music is beautiful, but it still sounds like it's all coming through a wind tunnel. The projector is showing old photos, very very old photos of when I was on the Bladebreakers. They flash on by, pictures of Tyson and Max, Kenny, myself and Kai... There's a few of just him and I, Gabe squeezes my hand a little too tight when those pass by…

 _I want you to know that I still love you, even though we been dancing on broken glass. Parade all your memories for the moments we shared, never fade away._

The old photos of our teams transition to ones of when we welcomed Kyra into the world. The photo I love the most with her holding Kai's finger in her tiny hand where I'm propped up on the hospital bed comes across the screen. Other ones I or Kai had taken are she grew up, before he took her away, show up on the screen and now I can hear the music a bit better.

 _I want you to know I still love you, when I walk down the memory lane. Where the night swears its love to the stars, there will be no more tears today. Hey, hey._

The pictures of Kyra fade out, most of the ending ones were of just Kai and me until there's ones of Kain and I show up. Some of the photos that flash around are of Max and the twins growing up with us, others are of Kyra and Dimitri and Sven as well around what would be the same time as the others. I'm so absorbed into watching the projector that it takes me a minute to notice Gabe has let go of my hand. But truly I don't care, and I find myself smiling.

 _We shared a penchant for cyanide praise, fashioned our armors of empathy's malaise. And all of that hurt, and all of those words that we said. You'd think we poisoned the ground on which we tred, but the lining is silver._

My smile only widens as the pictures that come now are recent ones. When the kids took these I don't know, or will I question it because I want to cherish these forever. The photos come and go from the kids doing selfies, to us at Christmas and the skating rink. There's several of just Kai and I, how and when these were taken I don't know, and I chance a quick look over my shoulder. His focus is on the screen and then his eyes shift to me and I don't know why but I smiled at him, and he smiled back. The words to the last part of the song coming back to mind "the lining is silver." And then the chorus comes back into play, my attention turning back to the screen.

 _I want you to know I still love you, even though we've been dancing on broken glass. Parade all your memories for the moments we shared, never fade away. I want you to know I still love you, when I walk down the memory lane. Where the night swears its love to the stars, there will be no more tears today. Hey, hey._

After the second chorus rings through, more pictures follow suit, the music picks up its tempo and the pictures that follow are completely different from what they were before.

 _The best of intentions will not see the road paved, the end of illusions, who could ever be saved? What's left behind in the storms that we braved, the troubles we find and the chances we waived._

All these photos that come through are papers that pertain to the restaurant, they sit on the screen long enough that I'm able to read over them quickly. These are the papers I gave to Kai to go over, where he's gone over parts in highlighter and then in a large circle he wrote "Gabe is stealing from you."

It took a minute before my brain caught up to what I had read, and next thing I knew there was another picture of another document that was for life insurance with Kain and I's names on them. When had Gabe gotten those? We hadn't even talked about that... My gut sinks to my toes as I feel frozen to the ground now.

The music fades out, the song I'm guessing is done or almost done but now the pictures aren't there but voices coming through the projector screen. It's all Russian, but then text appears like subtitles at the bottom of the screen, I can only guess it's what the phone conversations are about, and it makes my blood boil.

"I love you, I'm doing this for you."

"Well I can see how much more I can get from him, it may take a while though for him to funnel the funds back through."

"I should have taken that little shit out the moment I met him."

Then the voices die away and there's an actual video playing, it shows Gabe with another man coming out of a cafe'. The camera follows them, all the while I can hear Kyra's voice in the background, which must have meant she was the one who took it. The camera follows Gabe and the other man, who I know I've seen before, but right at this moment I can't think of when or where until the video is showing us they're at my restaurant. The man breaks a pipe, flooding the parking lot and street. That's when I realize the man is my contractor, the same one that has been in charge of everything…

How fucking stupid have I been?!

The video ends, everything is silent now. I can hear my heart racing in my chest and the blood that is pumping through my veins. I can only just stare at the now blank screen, where 30 plus people have just witnessed that the man to my right has been cheating and stealing from me, on top of a possible plan to kill me and my son.

"You... You little fucking ingrate!" Are the words that snap me out of my daze, and I turn around in time to see Gabe go for Kain.

He had been sitting in the front row to my left behind me, beside his father and sister and the others. Now he's standing with a smirk on his face that drops the second he realizes Gabe is going out for him. Kai jumps up to his feet, putting himself between our son and Gabe as I feel myself reach out and grab hold of the back of his suit jacket.

"Don't you fucking touch him!" I don't feel anything as those words actually leave my mouth, as I spin Gabe around and cold clock him in the side of his face.

He staggers back, holding his jaw as blood seeps out of his mouth. Some of the people in the crowd all gasp, but once again everything I hear is coming through a wind tunnel. I step closer to Gabe, my fists clenched to my sides and my vision is constricted so much I probably look like a wild tiger at this point as my fangs are bare more than they ever have and I can feel all the hair on my body rise up.

I want to lay into him again, God it felt so good to hit him and I reeled back to strike him once more when a warm hand comes over my arm and holds me. I don't even register who it is as I'm just seeing red now.

"I don't EVER want to see your pathetic face again! If you dare come near any of my children-" I tried to pull my arm out of the warm hold to go at him again, and I'm cut short when police sirens cut through the air.

Gabe pales more than I've ever seen him before, and then everything happens in such a blur all I could register was that the cops had come and took Gabe into custody. Spencer, when he got here I don't know, talked to the cops and they were gone with Gabe and the man I had seen in the videos, he was here?! My vision comes back and I look around, all eyes on me, and the warm hand is still on my arm…

What the hell just happened?

Kain clears his throat, and everyone looks to him now. "So... Who wants some cake?"

"Are you serious?" I can't help myself from asking him as he just shrugs his shoulders at me.

"Would be a shame to let it go to waste." Is his stupid response.

I shake my head at him and look to my right where Kai is still standing there with his hand on my arm. Why didn't you let me hit the bastard again you prick?!

"No… No… Everyone just go…" I say in a defeated sigh and pull out of Kai's grasp, my feet carrying me away from the crowd who look like they've just watched a live horror show.

I don't cry but my body is shaking as I reach the room I had gotten ready in, I can't help but pace around as the adrenaline is fading out of my body. My hands are trembling as I fumble around in my pants pocket for my pack of cigarettes, lighting one up and inhaling deeply but it does nothing for my shot nerves.

Everything I have been through, everything that I thought I knew has just been thrown out of the window and in front of so many people… Why didn't they just tell me? Why did they let me go this far without telling me!? I didn't know whether to be mad and angry, or embarrassed and sad about it all.

My pacing and my random thoughts stop as there's a knock on the door, before I can say anything it opens and Max pops his blonde head inside the room.

"Did you know?!" Is my first question for him, my blood pressure rising.

He slips into the room and closes the door behind him with his hands up, his blue eyes soft as he steps up to me and I feel like I want to hit him too.

"I did…" He answers and it takes everything in me not to hit him.

"Why? Why didn't you tell me? Why did none of you tell ME?!" I scream at him, trying to stop myself from shaking so hard.

"Would you have believed us?" He asks calmly as he stands in front of me.

"… Of course I would have!" I bite back, but my words aren't convincing even to myself. "Obviously you all had this shit to show me, someone could have shown it to me sooner!" I yell at him, my vision constricting again.

"Ray…" He pleads, "We already tried to tell you what kind of man he was… You never listened before…" He says and I feel myself shrink.

I remember the arguments I always found myself in with them, how I would push past their concerns and accusations and defend Gabe; though none of them had ever been as bad as the truth. Then it hits me like a truck, the snowball incident that ended up hurting my son…

"He fucking hurt Kain on purpose!" I scream out at him and he nods his head solemnly and I feel like crying now, I put my son in danger and he paid the price for it, I put Kyra in danger without even realizing it.

"I'm going to fucking kill him!"

"You need to calm down…" Is Max's response, and even though it's a good one it's also stupid.

"I AM CALM!"

He shakes his head and laughs at me. "No, you're not Ray… I can understand why, but you really need to calm down right now. Spencer is going to handle all the paperwork to make sure Gabe and his husband are put away for a long time."

"HUSBAND?!" Is the only thing that registered in my head.

He nods again, "They were working together to scam you out of every penny you had… They figured that with Kain being Kai's son you had money to spare, that when you ran out that they could get more out of you once… Once you two were out of the picture…" He sighs as if the thought alone is hard for him to even comprehend.

I can only shake my head as I start to hyperventilate, and Max rushes over to me and helps me sit down much like he had before this shit show started. His hand goes to my back once more as he rubs it gently, practically holding me up as I fight with myself to breathe again normally.

"This… This is just a bad dream… I'm going to wake up any minute now…" I say more to myself than to him and he chuckles beside me.

"I'm afraid you're wide awake right now Ray…"

I shake my head at him again, not wanting to believe it but what other choice did I have now? It was clear as day now what was going on, that I had been living a lie for the past five years.

"I'm so stupid…"

"Yeah… Kind of… But hey, we love you for it." He goes quiet for a moment as I'm able to finally breathe right again. "What do you want to do now?"

"I don't know…" I say brokenly, but it's the truth, what am I supposed to do now?

"Well… I kind of liked Kain's idea, would be a shame to let everything you paid for to go to waste." He says almost innocently.

"Who all is still here?" I asked with a quirked brow.

"It's just us now, everyone who was associated with Gabe left, our family is still here."

"Alright… Just… Just give me a minute…"

He rubs my back a bit harder and pulls himself away from me, "Okay, I'll be outside with the others when you're ready." I nod to him and he leaves me in the room alone, shutting the door behind him gently.

I take in a few more deep breathes before getting up and tossing my burnt out cigarette out the back window. I don't even bother checking myself in the mirror before I step outside.

* * *

 **Kai's POV**

From start to finish this entire thing has gone from bad to worse, I hadn't wanted to be here to begin with but I was thankful that I had come. If I hadn't, I'm not sure if I really wanted to think about it. My kids needed me, and that was clear when the bastard had tried to go for my son in front of everyone there. When Ray had hit him I was proud of him, but also terrified to let him keep going at him and I jumped in even though I wanted to lay into the bastard just as much, I didn't want to see Ray get arrested, even if he was only attacking Gabe for all the right reasons.

We were lucky to have Spencer there with us, if the police had shown up a minute later everything would have gone down the drain since Gabe's husband had tried to run off when everything went to shit. They had apprehended him, and once Ray was gone I handed the bastard over to them, but not without some choice words between the two of us, Tala and Bryan giving him their two cents as he was dragged away. Of course the police had no idea what we had said to him, since we told him off in our native tongue; Kyra had covered her ears because of all the profanities that had slipped from our mouths, and while Kain had no idea what we had said it didn't stop him from grinning like a damn fool as he waved to Gabe as he was hauled off to the police car.

Those who were associated with Gabe gathered their things and left in whispers and murmurs, we were the ones to stay back and wait for Ray's decision as we felt it best to listen to him now that it was him that was just thrown into everything without little to no warning. I won't lie, I felt guilty for having it done this way, but even Max and Tyson had agreed that this was the best way to have done it; Ray could be worse than stubborn mule at times.

Max finally emerged from the building across from where the wedding arch is, a small hopeful smile on his face as his kids and Kain rush over to him where he puts an arm around each of his kids shoulders as he reaches the rest of us; Tyson and his family, Kenny's, Tala's, Hiro's, and Spencer's.

"Is he alright?" Kyra is the first to speak once Max meets us.

His blonde head nods to us, though I can see it on his face that he's upset and I don't blame him for feeling that way. Ray was, is, his best friend and he helped play a part in what we just did to him.

"He should be out here again in a few minutes, just needed some time."

"Well, what now?" Kain asks looking to his uncle as he stands beside Matt.

Max shrugs his shoulders at his question, letting his arms drop to his sides as he lets go of his kids shoulders. "I'm sure he'll let us know what he wants."

"Really would be a shame to let all that food go to waste." Ray's voice drifts out from behind Max who turns to face him and I can see the corners of his mouth quirk up.

Kyra and Kain rush over to their father, where he takes them both up in a tight embrace and it warms my heart to see that and how close Kyra has gotten with him to run to him like that and receive a hug from him.

"You're damn right it would." Tyson pipes up on the other side of Stella, where his son Thomas was standing in front of him and Hilary attached to his arm. His brother and his wife and their three kids standing around them as well.

Ray smirks at him while rolling his eyes, keeping his arms around our children with a look that says he's afraid to let them go right now. "Then go on and enjoy it man." Is all he says and that's all he needed to for Tyson to drag Hilary and his son off to the buffet that had been prepared and brought out by the DJ booth and dance floor, Hiro and his family following after his bottomless pit of a brother.

"We can eat the cake too?" Kain asks excitedly and Ray nods. "Sweet!" He shouts and grabs his sisters hand and hauls her off, Dimitri and Sven quickly going after them with Stella and Matt not far behind with Victor coming up the rear with Hiro's kids.

Ray watches them go before he steps up to the rest of us that stayed behind, which meant Max, Tala, Bryan, Spencer and his wife, and me. He looks at all of us and takes a breath, running his right hand through his hair as he shakes it out a little before meeting our eyes.

"Thank you… For what you guys did… I just… It would have been a lot better than finding out this way." He says and his eyes narrow slightly at Max who just smiles at him and puts an arm around his shoulder like he had done his kids, and my heart clenches at the friendly gesture.

"Like I said, you wouldn't have believe us man." Max says with a cheeky grin and Ray sighs again.

"This was a lot more fun anyways." Tala says with a flick of his wrist, "Owe it all to that boy of yours."

Ray rolls his eyes, "Who else would it have been, right?" He laughs, though it sounds pained. "That boy is gonna be the death of me, I swear." He huffs and the others laugh.

"Don't forget, Kyra helped too." Bryan said and Ray nodded.

"I owe them a lot." He says as his eyes drift towards where the kids are, Kain is forcing his sister to cut the wedding cake with him while she scowls at him, the others watching and laughing around them.

"What happens now?" He asks once he turns his attention back to us.

"We go and enjoy the rest of the day, and we'll worry about princess tomorrow. Right Spence?" Max says to Ray and then turns to Spencer.

The tallest of us all nods his blonde head, "It will be taken care of, Max is right that we should just enjoy what we have now and worry tomorrow." Ray looked to be in agreement with what Spencer had said and put his arm around Max's back, leading them towards the kids who were now shoving and throwing the cake around and at each other.

"Then let's get this party started."

The others started to follow after them, with Spencer and his wife leading. I went to move but my legs weren't moving as my eyes were stuck on Ray and Max still wrapped up together as they got to the kids and started laughing with them all while trying to get a piece of the cake that hadn't been destroyed yet. Tala paused, his hand in Bryan's and I could see him look between me and Ray and frown slightly, not having missed the fact that Ray hadn't once looked at me.

"Just give him some time…" Were his words of encouragement, and I nodded even though I wasn't sure about it at all.

I know I had asked Ray if he and Max had ever been in a more serious relationship before, and even though he had told me no, something within me was hurting seeing the two like that. The way Ray clung to Max like he was his boyfriend, and the way Max did the same and the look of a proud parent on his face whenever he looked at my son and Ray had the same look whenever he looked at the twins. I don't know if it was guilt or jealousy, maybe a bit of both, all I knew was that I didn't like it but I had no room to protest when I hadn't been there.

Slowly I trailed after the others, lighting a cigarette on my way, feeling like I was alone in a crowd of familiar faces.

* * *

 **Kyra's POV**

Having to wash the cake off my dress and out of my hair, I glance up in the mirror before me to see Kain standing there in the bathroom with me.

"You're not supposed to be in here, unless you're really my little sister." I say in an annoyed tone since it's his fault there's icing smeared on my face.

"Just wanted to see how you were doing." He says with a shrug, and I shrug back at him.

"Fine, I guess… Why?" I asked as I dry my hands and face off with the paper towels, tossing it into the trash and stand in front of him.

"Just making sure, after what happened and everything."

"I'm just glad he didn't get to you… I would have hurt him myself if papa hadn't." I tell him and put a hand on his shoulder, "You're safe now, we all are."

"Thanks to you." He says, placing his hand over mine and gives me a toothy grin. "Everyone's heading to the dance floor, do you?"

"I guess, if I must." I roll my eyes at him in a playful manner, and his grin widens into a full smile the width of his mouth.

I barely have time to blink as he grabs my hand and hauls me off back outside, the dance floor is already alive with the other teens and kids jumping and bouncing around together to whatever song Tyson has going. Kain and I join in on the fun, Dimitri and Sven finding me in the middle of everyone and dance our asses off with the rest of them.

Even though we were all acting like a bunch of idiots out there, and that everyone was safe and fine I couldn't help but notice my dad on the sidelines watching, a wine glass in one hand and a cigarette in the other. His eyes were focused from us and back to papa who was dancing like an even bigger idiot with Max; oh god papa, who taught you how to dance?

It was then that it dawned on me, my parent were still avoiding each other like a plague. Even after everything that had happened in the last hour, this was how they were going to act? I could see the hurt in my dads eyes as he watched pap and Max, casually sipping at his wine and taking a drag off his cigarette before his crimson eyes met mine and he gave me a half smile.

"Hey, I'll be right back." I have to shout over the loudness of the music, and thankful that I can step away from it as my ears are starting to hurt; I don't know how Kain and papa can stay out there much longer either.

"What's wrong?" Dad asks me as I step up to him and put my hands on my hips, already giving him a 'don't ask me that' look.

"We're all having fun out there, and you're over here by yourself."

"You know me better than anyone, I don't dance… At least not like that." He says in a dull voice and motions to the crowd still jumping around.

"Let loose a little, it's a party… Well, sort of…" I shrug at him, though I can see his real reason for not coming in and enjoying his time here. "Ask him to dance with you."

"And look like that?" He snorts back at me nodding at my papa and Max head banging to a new song that doesn't even have heavy guitars playing, and I inwardly cringe.

"He's just letting loose, he deserves it and so do you." I tell him and he shakes his head at me.

"When a proper song comes on to dance to, let me know."

"Fine, I'll hold you to that you old man." I smirk at him and his face drops.

"Don't you start that too."

I turn to leave him to stoop in his own misery, tossing my hair over my shoulder and wave to him. "No promises dad." I sing out to him as I go back to the group of teens, at least my brother knows how to properly dance.

"You doin alright?" Kain asks me as I start to dance beside him again.

"Yeah, just needed to talk to dad." I tell him and nod towards our father who hadn't budge, but now looks pissed off.

"Oh…" Kain frowns, his dancing stopping as he turns to look over at papa and I can see him physically cringe just like I had. "Should do something about that, hu?" He says and I can already see the wheels turning in his head.

"Please don't embarrass us further." I beg him, and he turns to me with a cocky grin before he cracks his knuckles.

"Time for some loooove music." His grin doesn't fade and I face palm at him as he goes off towards uncle Tala.

Suddenly the song that had been playing stops, a slow dance tune coming in and I'm actually thankful because it's not as loud as the other songs were. Kain comes back over to us and holds his hand out for me, that same stupid grin on his face.

"If you step on my feet." I warn and he just chuckles at me, pulling me out of the little group we had been in and out onto the side of the dance floor as the others go off in their own two-man groups; Matt and Sven, Thomas and Victor, and Dimitri and Stella.

It kind of hurt seeing those two go off, and even though I knew absolutely nothing would come from it I still didn't like it. I was fighting with myself to not bother, that I didn't want to get closer and lead him along when I was too afraid to actually try anything with him. What we had was good enough, and that's all I wanted.

"Why does love suck so much?" I asked Kain, his hands in mine as he led us around in circles.

He shrugs his shoulders at me, eyes going towards Matt on the other side of the dance floor past the adults and couples that had come to the dance floor now that it was something they could dance to.

"When you figure it out, let me know."

I shake my head at him, "Am I being stupid?"

"Yes." I knew I shouldn't have asked him that, of all people, but at least I could appreciate his honesty. "I get it though, you're scared. Our family doesn't really have the best track record around when it comes to these things." He says and stops dancing, his fingers gently tilting my chin up to meet his gaze. "But he loves you, and you love him. So, why not try?"

"And when it goes to shit?" I asked, I don't know where the tears were coming from but I could feel them at the corner of my eyes.

"I'll hit him." He answered bluntly with a shrug of his shoulders, and it made me chuckle. "He won't… I promise you. It'll be hard at times, but you'll learn to get through it, and most importantly you have to do it together."

"You sound like dad and papa…" I said as I wiped my cheeks with the back of my arm.

"I'll take that as a compliment." He said with a smirk, letting my left hand go.

Without a word he took me over to where Stella and Dimitri were dancing, tapping Dimitri on the shoulder, halting their dancing, like before without a word he took Stella's hands out of Dimitri's hold and placed mine in his. Already my hand warmed at his touch and I could feel my face heating up.

"There, that looks much better." Kain said as he stood back with a proud smile on his face and both hands on his hips as he looked at us. Dimitri's face turned the color of his hair as he gripped my hands tighter, and I had to bite my tongue not to laugh.

"Men never looked good on you anyways Stella." Kain said to her, and she nodded.

"Not really my style. You two have fun." She waved at us before going off somewhere in the crowd, leaving Kain standing there staring at us.

"Well?" He huffed, and Dimitri's blush intensified.

"A bit of privacy?" He squeaked out, and I laughed at him.

"Fine, fine." Kain huffed and turned away, going over to uncle Tala who was gushing like crazy and high-fiving my brother.

I had to roll my eyes at the two of them, how childish could they be. It took me a minute to realize that we still weren't moving and I turned back to Dimitri who looked like he was a deer caught in the headlights.

"Um…"

"Just lead." I urged, my heart racing in my chest. "I trust you." I told him, knowing he'd understand the heaviness of my words.

He nodded, letting go of my right hand in order to put it behind my back in a gentle hold as he started our dance. A different song coming along that he easily found the rhythm to, and he glided us effortlessly across the dance floor.

"I thought you didn't want this?" He asked me, and I bit into my lower lip.

"I do… I'm just…"

"Scared… I know… I am too." He finished for me, like he always had been able to do.

"I don't want to lose what we have, is that so wrong?" I asked him and he shook his head no at me.

"I don't want to lose you at all, you mean so much too me… I'd lose my mind if I lost you." He told me, his beautiful lavender eyes shining brightly at me where I could see the love he held for me in them.

"Then don't." I told him, my lips brushing against his as I leaned up to kiss him.

He pushed back into mine, a shockwave rushing through me at the same time. We didn't pull away, only coming closer as he pulled me more into him. It felt like we were the only two out there at that moment, it was heaven and bliss, unknown and scary all at the same time. Kain was right though, we'd just have to try.

"WOOOOO!" We pulled apart, to see Kain and Tala high-fiving each other again, while Bryan slapped some money into Kain's hand.

"He bet on us?" I asked, though of course I wouldn't put it past my brother to do something like that.

"And my dad had to pay out to him." Dimitri cringed.

I put my hand under his chin, bringing him back to look at me. "Ignore them, they're just a bunch of kids." I told him before leaning back up and kissing him again, ignoring the second WOOO from my brother, giving him the bird in between.

* * *

 **Ray's POV**

With bits of cake still stuck in my hair and the night falling around us, everyone was in too good of a mood to call it off and so we let Tyson handle the DJ booth that had been rented out, crowding onto the dance floor. Most of the songs were pumped up and fast until the adults got onto the dance floor and Tala insisted on one or two slow dances, Max having been stuck to my side since I had come back out to join everyone took my hand and led me out there with the others. I was a bit breathless from before, but I enjoyed his company like I always had and just let him lead us around the others.

"I'm so sorry, I should have listened to you." I tell my best friend, holding his right hand with mine, our arms around each other's backs.

"Don't apologize." He says in a tired voice, probably because he's heard me say that about fifty times now.

"But... You were right. Everyone was right... Why am I such an idiot?" I ask him and his blue eyes show that he's feeling sorry for me, even though I never wanted that from him.

"I'm only saying, if you had listened to us, we wouldn't have seen you lay the bastard out like that." He laughs and I bite my lip so I don't laugh with him.

Instead I pout at him, "My fist still hurts you know... That's not funny."

"Hey, have to look on the bright side of these things. You're safe, the kids are safe, and you're not married to a cheating lying shit bag who was already married." He says with a shrug, and I can only nod in agreement.

We dance in content silence for a while longer, I can hear behind me the kids talking to Kai in hushed whispers and Max spins me around so I can see what they're bothering their father over and see Kai's eyes shift nervously towards me.

"I think that's my cue." Max says, his hands leaving my person and he walks off behind me, leaving me in the middle of the dance floor.

I watch as the kids drag and pull their father over to me, he doesn't say anything but I can tell by the look on his face that he is not happy about what they want him to do, and that is dance with me to this new song that had started playing. I can't help but look amused, the kids forcing him right in front of me.  
"Alright, now dance you fools." Kain huffs at us, going back over to where Tala and Bryan are standing on the sidelines and I can see Kain and Tala fist bump each other, Kyra winks at me before joining them.

I raise my hand. "Shall we?" I say with a smile.

He stiffens and gives a half-pissed, half-nervous glare back at the others before taking my hand with a small smirk. "Like we have a choice..." He grumbles.

I bite the inside of my cheek; his face is priceless right now and I only wished I could have taken a picture. "You lead?"

His smirk grows, "Naturally..." He says and pulls me into him and guides my hand to his shoulders, putting his own cautiously on my waist **.**

I can feel how tense he is, and I don't blame him, but I don't want the happy mood I'm in to be spoiled. "I won't punch you, I promise." I make sure to keep my hands laxed around his shoulders, the song in the background coming in and out of my hearing.

 _Morning comes slow today, memories push through from yesterday, where will I be tomorrow_? _What do I have to show?_ _From my… Life, oh whoa._  
He nods and holds onto me a little more firmly, waiting for the timing of the music to pick up before starting to move, and the second it does we're off back with the others, the music guiding us along.

 _Stay, I need you here for a new day to break. Stay, I want you near, like a shadow in my wake._

"... You look nice..." He says, though he doesn't look at me when he says it; he was never good at knowing what to say in our youth and I can see that hasn't changed much.

"So do you." I show him a fanged smile, knowing that he'll know what it means. "When was the last time we did this?"

His eyes actually look up as if he's trying to remember, "Probably not since before Kain was born..."

"That sounds about right... I think it was at Tyson's wedding, wasn't it?"

"...Too long..."

 _Flow with life down the drain, memories and force of will sustain. Where will I be tomorrow? What will be left to show?_ _From my life._

I can't help but laugh. "Way too long... God we're old."

He finally lets out a laugh and his body doesn't feel as tense under my hands.

"There it is... I've missed that." I tell him with a smile as he finally makes eye contact with me. "I'm glad you came... I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't stopped me..."

His eyes widen slightly and he looks stuck for words, stopping us from dancing for the slightest second before catching himself and continues.

"I wanted to ask..." I start, but my better judgment is telling me not to finish that sentence, but I want to know why he had kissed me a week ago, why he decided to stay here and endure everything he had, but my mouth closes on me and no words come out as I follow his lead.

 _Stay, I need you here for a new day to break. Stay, I want you near like a shadow in my wake._

I can feel him tense back up again, looking like he knows exactly what I wanted to ask. His hands hold me onto me tighter and stays quite a few more moments before he finally breathes out, "... To finally try and let you go..." I don't miss the sound of pain in his tone and my heart hurts just the same.

I stopped looking at him at that point, only for my head to snap back to him. "... Did it work?" I asked in a whisper as there's a lump in my throat as now I'm afraid to know his answer.

His eyes tell me that he's somewhat afraid himself, I'll never know if he'll tell me the truth or not, but something was better than anything."... Not at all… If anything it made things worse..."

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." I choke on a sob, tears coming to my eyes quickly. "I... I never wanted to hurt you like this..."

He pulls me in closer and moves his hands up to my back, "Shh...I brought it on myself… Now stop crying or you'll get me in trouble with the kids..."

I nod, burying my face into his chest to hide my tears, his warm touch sending a shiver down my body. A laugh comes out of me in the form of a sob, knowing full well the kids will be out for blood if their little plan doesn't work out, and I'm grateful. "Sorry..."

 _It's the little things, little things, little things that make the world. It's the little things, little things, little things that make the world. The little things, the little things. It's the little things, little things, little things that make the world._

 __His lips come and rest on the top of my head, and I want him to kiss me but he doesn't. "It's all right.."

"... Are... Are you going to stay?" I ask him, looking up at him and our eyes lock.

"Depends, I guess..." He says with a shrug.

"On what?"

"... If you..." He hesitates, our eyes staying on the others and I can see the hope he's holding out for me, for us, to work this mess out. I can't feel it in me right now, not after everything that's happened and for what's to come in dealing with Gabe.

"Will you hate me, if I ask for some time?"

"Of course not... Does that mean...?" I can see it again, the hope he has and I feel the same that now I know for sure he had never truly let me go, just like I had never let him go.

"I just need time... To sit back and think things through, not to mention what I'm going to have to go through to fight against Gabe and everything he's done to me..."

He nods his head, and the mention of Gabe makes his face look like he just ate something sour. "I understand." He says and rubs my back. "If you need me for anything... I'm right here this time."

 _Stay, I need you here for a new day to break. Stay, I want you near like a shadow in my wake. Stay, here with me, don't you leave. Stay, stay with me until the day is over. Stay and say you'll never leave._

The song ends, but I don't either of us had really been paying attention and we come to stop in the middle of the dance floor.

"Thank you... I really need it..." I say and let a purr escape me as his hand continues to rub my back. His eyes close and I can feel him almost shudder against me, knowing full well he missed that damn purr and I can't help the smirk that comes to my lips until I think about the kids. "The kids won't be happy..." I say with a frown.

"Why not?"

"Well... They expect us to get back together... Like, now..."

He rolls his eyes at me. "More like yesterday... And this time it's not about them..."

My brow arches at him. "What do you mean?"

"Oh come on, they've been trying to shove us back together for ages now."

"Really?... Let me guess, your sons idea?" I chuckle, and he rolls his eyes again before lifting a telling brow.

"Not that your daughter didn't have a role to play..."

"What little shits... I love them for it though." I laugh again, and he cracks a smile.

"Me too..."

"... I..." My mouth snaps shut on me again, not sure why I can't force the words out of my mouth. The words I want to say, _need_ to say, the words he deserves to hear me say to him.

He tenses once more, then smiles down at me. "Me too."

* * *

 **Kai's POV**

My feet hurt, and so does my back right now. After the party had died down, we were invited to come stay at Max's place, which wasn't that much of a problem as I really didn't feel like trying to find a hotel nearby. The only problem was that Max had a four bedroom house, and there were ten of us.

Naturally Ray got his room, while Kain and Matt got there with Dimitri. Max had given his bed to Tala and Bryan, which meant he was staying with Ray because Ray had asked for the space and time to think things through; and I could only abide by his wishes. Stella and Kyra roomed together, which left me on the couch.

It was hard for me to sleep on it, I had tried but ended up just tossing and turning before I had given up and went to the kitchen for a cup of water. I was actually impressed at the size of the house Kain had grown up in, and I was glad that it wasn't something like my mind had conjured up for the longest time. Those thoughts caused guilt to swell in my stomach and I pushed it down, I couldn't keep hating myself over what had happened. Ray was willing to try again, maybe not right now, but I was glad all the same that he saw something more in me than I could see in myself right now.

"Can't sleep?" Max's voice brings me out of my thoughts as he comes down the stairs, it's three in the morning and he looks ready to go to work.

I shake my head at him, sipping at my water.

"Well, if you want you can kick the boys out of their room and they can take the couch." He tells me as he comes into the kitchen with me, starting up the coffee maker.

"Let them sleep, they've had a long day." I tell him and he nods, rummaging through the fridge for something to eat.

"Haven't we all." He sighs out as he shuts the door, a box of donuts in his hand. "Want one?"

"Sure." I shrug my shoulders at him, reaching into the open box he holds out for me and grab a plain chocolate one. "Thanks…"

"No problem." He smiles at me, though something is off about it.

He sets the box on the counter and turns back to me, arms going over his chest. "Is that all I get a thank you for?" He asks with a brow raised, and I don't miss the cold tone he has now.

"What do you mean?" I ask him.

He shakes his head at me and sighs, "You really are something, aren't ya Kai?"

I just raise a brow at him and he frowns hard at me.

"I know Ray wants to get back with you, maybe not right now which is understandable, but I'm going to be honest with you. It's a bad idea."

"Why?" My brow raises higher, I know it's a stupid ass question but I want to hear his reasons.

"I know you don't know this, so let me tell you. When you did what you did, I was left here to pick him up on his feet, I raised your son for a good portion of his life. I took on what should have been _your_ responsibilities, and I know you have your own reasons but they're bullshit compared to what you put Ray through."

I open my mouth to speak and he holds a hand up at me, "I'm talking right now, and you sure as hell are going to listen to me." He says darkly, his eyes narrowing. When had Max ever been this scary?

"I almost lost him because of you, for good, because you ran off without a word to anyone. I was the one staying up late at night with the babies because he was too drunk to even function, then I was the one wiping his tears and trying to make sure he didn't kill himself. He can forgive you, Kain can forgive you, but you best believe me I _won't_." He says darkly, and I just nod to him; what could I say to him when he was right?

"You also better believe that if I was gay, he would have long forgotten you because I sure as hell would have made him. So, just so we're clear. You will _not_ hurt him like that again, I don't care for your excuses but don't you _dare_ hurt my best friend. I can't bare to lose him like that again, he loves you too much to be put through hell again." His voice softens slightly, and I can see that he had bottling this up for a long time.

"So, we have a deal then?" He asks as he holds his hand out to me, and I take it because I don't know what else to do now. He gives our held hands one shake before letting mine go, suddenly his blue eyes brighten like I remember how they used to be in our youth. "Well then, the house is yours so make yourself at home and I'll see you all tonight." He says in his normal cheery voice, grabbing his coffee and taking the box of donuts with him out the front door.

I'm left there speechless, his words sinking in deeper than anything I had ever heard him say before. When I thought of how my life would be, it never once looked like this. How the hell did I let it fall apart so badly?

The door opens and Max sticks his head back inside, "What matters now is that you're here, for him and the kids. So, just keep doing right by them, okay?" He says in a soft tone and I nod to him.

"Always."


	31. Chapter 31

**Author's Note:**

 **This is a very long chapter (25 pages) because as I had said, it was very hard to actually want to bring this story to an end. There are bits and pieces to the spin off in here for different parts, because I know that not everyone will go over to that story because of the rating of the fic, so for those who aren't going to, they can get a glimpse of a few parts to the stories that are in that fic.**

* * *

 **Epilogue**

The last month of their visit ended up being nothing but filled with paper work and court hearings, the stress was weighing down on all of them until the judge had finally given his verdict and had sentenced Gabriel and his husband to twenty years in prison. The court room, having been filled with their friends and ex-teammates, had jumped up in a roar of applause and cheering while Ray felt like the weight of the world had finally lifted off his shoulders.

That was the last day of Kai and Kyra's visit, even though she knew her father had meant well when he had said she could stay, she didn't feel it right to leave him home alone.

Everyone had come to say their goodbyes to the group of eight, Kyra and Dimitri holding hands tightly as they were ready to say goodbye to Japan and the others; their promise to come back in March still there for the concert. Kain had practically suffocated her in their goodbye hug, which she allowed because deep down her heart was breaking for having to say goodbye to him; regardless of how much a pain he had been.

Ray couldn't help the tears that were running down his cheeks as he hugged his daughter goodbye, feeling as though she was leaving him for good once again even though she tried to tell him that wasn't the case. When they pulled away from their embrace he handed her a small photo of their family for her locket, one they had taken two days after the disaster of a wedding outside the old Hiwatari manor that was still abandoned.

The two teens headed towards the private plane to board while Ray said his thanks and goodbyes to Dimitri's fathers and Spencer for everything he had done for the court hearings. Once they were done the adults and Sven headed for the plane as well, leaving him and Kai face to face, Kain having done and gone saying his goodbyes to his father.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" Kai asked as he embraced him, and Ray nodded.

"There's still some paper work left to figure out, more insurance claims and numbers." He cringed and Kai let out a soft laugh, running his hands through the back of his hair.

"Then we'll see you in two months." Kai breathed out heavily before he placed a kiss on the top of Ray's hair, inhaling Ray's scent.

"Not a day later." Ray said, his voice muffled from his face being buried in Kai's chest, his arms wrapped tightly around his back.

"I promise." Kai said as he let him go, the plane starting up behind him.

Ray didn't want to let go just yet, holding onto his hand as he stared deeply into his crimson eyes. His heart breaking all over again, though he knew it was only temporary.

"I love you." He said and Kai smiled, bridging the space between them and kissed him on the lips, sending a spark through their bodies.

"I love you too." Ray let him go after that, waving at him the entire way he made his way up the stairs to the plane.

Kain stepped up to him, resting his head on the top of Ray's as he held him close beside him. The plane not taking long to take off once it got the clearance, the two of them still waving with tears in their eyes until it was in the air and out of their sight.

"Is it March yet?" Kain joked, getting an eye roll from his father as he led them back towards their car.

* * *

The two months apart had flown by them all, and Kain was bouncing on his toes with anticipation the entire day until his phone buzzed with a text from his sister.

"She said they just left the airport!" Kain shouted, running out of his room to where Ray was standing in the middle of the kitchen, busy doing the last of the dishes.

Kain was bouncing on the balls of his feet, his face alight with excitement for the arrival of Kyra and Kai. Ray could only offer a half-smile, nodding his head as he went back to his task of washing the dishes.

"It'll still be a while till they get here, make sure Stella's room is made up for your sister." Ray instructed, watching Kain dash up the stairs in a flash.

"He's going to give himself a heart attack." Matt laughed from his spot in the living room, Kaneki asleep on his lap as he gently pet the sleeping kitten.

"Better him than me this time." Ray laughed back, placing the last bowl in the dishwasher and starting it up. "I think that's everything." He looked around the lower level, pleased with how nice everything finally looked as he joined his godson on the couch in the living room.

"The last of the laundry should be done, but we'll let Kain get that." Ray said, leaning back into the couch more as he let his muscles relax. Matt just snickered, nodding his head as he went through the channels on the TV.

"Dad messaged me a little bit ago, said he wants to come home."

"I told him not to go." Ray answered, looking bored at the TV across from him.

Matt shrugged. "Yeah, I did too. Stella said she was glad she went to see grandma in America instead." To that Ray nodded, the two falling into a content silence until Kain came flying down from the second floor landing. "You're going to hurt yourself." Matt said, not even bothering to look Kain's way as he came into the living room.

"Nah. So, anything else that needs to be done?" He asked, looking around a second until his eyes landed on his father's golden ones.

"Laundry." Ray and Matt echoed.

Kain was once again off in a flash to the outside of the house, where the washer and dryer sat outside under the car port. It hadn't taken him long to come back in with a basket full of clean laundry in his arms, setting it on the floor by Matt's feet where he sat between them in order to fold the clothes within the basket.

An hour had gone by when the doorbell rang, Kain abandoning his second and final load of laundry on the floor in the living room to answer the door in a rush, almost tripping over his own two feet on his way there.

"Sestra! Otets!" Kain shouted as he threw the door open, his arms open wide to accept his sisters less than enthused hug.

"Since when did you start learning Russian?" Kyra asked, being released from her younger brother's tight hold.

"After you two left, I'm still a bit rusty though." Kain said, stepping aside to let his sister and father in, Dimitri coming in behind them.

"Here, this is for you. But, you can't open it until tomorrow." Kyra said, handing out a light-blue paper bag, white tissue paper sticking out over the top.

"Oh… Thanks."

"Pozhaluysta." Kyra answered, Kain's brow raising in question. "It means you're welcome." Kyra rolled her eyes, stepping further into the house where she was greeted by Ray, whom she hugged tenderly.

"Good to see you again, how was your flight?" Ray asked, letting his daughter go.

"Long, I'm beat." Kyra answered, and Ray could see the dark circles under her eyes.

"You remember where Stella's room is? It's all set up for you, so go get some rest." Ray said, patting his daughter's back as she nodded and started for the stairs.

"Are there bags in the car?" Kain asked, coming back from his room without the little bag Kyra had given him.

"Yeah, I'll help you." Dimitri said, leading the way back outside to the rental that was parked in the driveway next to Ray's car.

"Coffee?" Ray asked, looking to Kai who was busy toeing off his shoes by the door.

"Please." Kai answered, coming in once his shoes were off and sitting at the bar that outlined the kitchen Ray had stepped into. "So, Max ended up going after all?" Kai asked, getting a nod in return.

"Yes, and he says he hates it. But, it's for the twins sake." Ray answered, sliding Kai a hot cup of coffee across the bar as he stood on the other end.

"Wish he wasn't bothering." Matt's voice came through from the living room, coming out into the main room of the house carrying Kaneki in his arms. "Mr. Hiwatari." He bowed slightly, getting a nod of the head in return.

Kain and Dimitri came back into the house with four suitcases, two in each hand of the teens. "Where do you want these?" Kain asked, setting them down by the door. "Think Kyra packed enough?" He huffed.

"Take Kyra's to her, as for Dimitri's his can go in your room." Kai answered.

"Wait, I thought Dimka and I were rooming together?" Came Kyra's voice over the banister on the second floor, she was leaning over it looking down at the men on the first floor.

"Who said anything about that?" Kai scoffed, looking up and meeting his daughters crimson eyes with his own.

"Kain is rooming with Matt." Kyra huffed.

"He lives with him?" Kai answered back sarcastically. "Why are we discussing this?"

"Because it's not fair, Dimka and I have roomed together before." Kyra said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You two weren't dating then." Kai shook his head.

"It's alright Kai. Dimitri can room with Kyra, I doubt they'll be doing anything." Ray interjected calmly, making sure to eye Dimitri almost threateningly.

"Right, I wouldn't dare." Dimitri answered a bit timidly as he shifted in his spot by the front door.

Kai sighed, shaking his head. "Fine. Just leave the door open."

"That's so unfair!" Kyra called back down.

"We'll leave _all_ doors open, how's that?" Ray asked, looking up at his daughter.

"Fine." Kyra rolled her eyes, heading back into Stella's room that sat behind her.

"Where do you want your bag then dad?" Kain asked.

"Max's room, please." Ray answered quickly, getting a questioning look from both Kai and Kain.

"Alright." Kain hesitated slightly, before taking up Kyra's bags with Dimitri following after him quietly.

Kain came back empty handed, waving to his fathers before taking Matt's arm and heading to their room to get some sleep, the kitten hardly stirring at the movement. Kai and Ray stayed in the kitchen, Kai staring at Ray who was beginning to look uncomfortable now and started to fiddle with the ends of his hair that was coming down over his shoulders now that he wasn't cutting it anymore.

"You still haven't made your decision yet, have you?" Kai finally asked, looking exhausted.

"It's a lot to decide on." Ray shrugged, his voice lowered in a whisper.

"It's been almost two months Ray." Kai protested.

"I know, I know. Just… Give me some more time, please?" Ray asked, his voice pleading.

Kai nodded, sipping from his mug before setting it down and locking eyes with Ray again. "It's good to see you again."

A faint blush spread like wild fire across the bridge of Ray's nose. "You too." He squeaked, causing Kai to smirk at him. "How… How is everything back in Russia?" He managed to get out.

"It's going well, hired a few more people to take on some of my work load so I don't have as much to do. Kyra seems pleased with the change, are you going to be able to come and see her graduate?" Kai asked.

"When was it again?" Ray asked, looking more relaxed now that the topic of conversation had shifted.

"It's in May, if you can make it up for her birthday as well I think she'd like that." Kai answered.

"I would like that, we'll figure something out." Ray said with a nod of the head.

"Be easier if you just came back with us all together." Kai said over the rim of his mug, taking another sip of his coffee and watched Ray bristle at his comment once more.

"We'll discuss it another time… Not when we have four teenagers EAVESDROPPING on our conversation." Ray said, his voice rising and then smirked as he heard the teens all scuttle away from their doorways, a smile coming to his lips as did Kai's own smile.

"Should get to bed ourselves then, make sure they get up in time to leave." Kai mused, standing from the stool he had been occupying and taking his mug into the kitchen to wash off.

"You don't have to do that, I'll get it later." Ray protested, watching Kai's back as he washed out the mug.

"You've already done enough, I can tell." Kai chuckled, turning to Ray once he was done setting the mug on the dishrack to dry. "Night." He leaned in slowly pecking Ray on the cheek, leaving the neko-jin slightly stunned and turning tomato red in the face.

"N… Night…" Ray managed to stammer out, then heard the teens chuckling in their rooms. "Good night kids!" He called out, listening to them scatter to their beds once more, still chuckling.

* * *

"C'mon Kyra, you're taking forever!" Kain called out, sitting at the dining table as he ate his scrambled eggs with Matt, Dimitri, Kai and Ray.

"I'm coming!" Kyra called back down from Stella's room before she emerged on the stairs, tying her long black hair up into a high ponytail. "Where's your shirt?" She asked, hands on her hips.

She was dressed in black skinny jeans, a black shirt and white vest-tank that was buttoned up, carrying black heeled boots.

"What shirt?" Kain asked.

"The shirt I brought you." Kyra rolled her eyes. "In the bag I gave you last night." She emphasized.

"Oh. One sec." Kain said, jumping from his chair and rushing to his room, coming back with the little light-blue bag in hand.

Everyone watched intently as he dug into the bag, tossing the tissue paper on the table top until he pulled out a white shirt. His face immediately lit up, a large smile coming to his face where his fangs showed. On the shirt in big bold dark-blue letters it read '#1 Little Brother'.

"Does that mean you're wearing yours?" He asked, turning to look at Kyra.

She undid her vest, holding it open to show him that she indeed was wearing the #1 Big Sister shirt he had gotten her for their first Christmas as a family.

"You said it'd be cool if I wore it to the concert, so I got you that." She explained.

"Thank you! It's amazing Kyra." Kain beamed, tearing off his current shirt to put on the one Kyra had given him quickly.

"I thought you said you were going to get your other one done?" Kyra asked with a raised brow, referring to Kain's nipple piercing, coming to sit at the table between her father and Dimitri with her own plate of breakfast.

"I was going to, but dad had a shit fit about it." Kain rolled his eyes, taking his place at the table once removing the bag and tissue papers to the floor by his feet.

"I didn't want you to get the first one to begin with and watch your mouth." Ray scorned shaking his head.

"You should get yours done, Kyra." Kain said, choosing to ignore his father sitting beside him.

"Hell no." Kai, Ray and Kyra said together, all sets of eyes narrowed on Kain.

"Fine, fine." Kain rolled his eyes, going back to his food quickly. "Better hurry up and eat so we can leave."

"We have like four hours." Kyra rolled her eyes.

"It'll take two to get to Tokyo alone, and then there's parking and I want to get a good spot." Kain pouted.

"Alright, fine." Kyra conceded, going to eating her own breakfast before her. "Really good Papa." She mused as she bit into her pancake.

"Thank you." Ray beamed. "You'll let us know when you get there safely?" Ray asked, looking to each of the four teens sitting around him at the table, getting a collective nod of heads.

"What are you and uncle Kai going to do while we're gone?" Dimitri asked, a smirk on his thin lips, causing the other teens to snicker behind their hands.

"We have some final paperwork to go over concerning princess." Ray answered calmly, causing the teens to full blown laugh at the name that had stuck when referring to Ray's ex-finance' Gabriel.

The table got quiet as everyone finished their breakfast, everyone taking their plates to the sink and rinsing them off before they started to get their shoes on by the door.

"Be sure to call one of us to let us know you got there." Ray reminded as he stood over the teens.

"We know dad." Kain sighed, standing from tying his boots and pulled Ray into a tight hug. "Love ya." He said and dashed out the door after waving to Kai who was standing beside Ray.

"Don't let him get lost." Ray huffed, getting a hug from Matt next before the teen slipped out of the door after Kain.

"Are you sure we just can't leave him there?" Kyra chuckled, giving each of her fathers a hug.

"Be nice." Kai said, making sure to hug his daughter tightly before letting her go. "And if we don't hear from any of you we'll come there personally."

"Oh God, don't do that." Kyra rolled her eyes. "We'll make sure to call, I promise." She gave one final goodbye to her fathers before taking Dimitri's hand and leaving the house, the door closing gently behind them.

"So… What do you want to do?" Ray asked, turning to Kai once the house was emptied of teenagers.

"Can go over those papers, or we can finish our discussion from last night." Kai said with a shrug of the shoulders, heading into the kitchen to tackle the dishes.

"Seriously, you don't have to do those." Ray said, sitting on one of the stools at the bar. "And I'd rather wait to do those papers… God, I'm so tired of paperwork." Ray said laying his head onto the countertop.

"Then what do you want to do?" Kai asked, turning on the tap and beginning to fill the sink up with hot soapy water.

"About?" Ray asked, looking up at his back.

"Us." Kai scoffed. "I'd like an answer sometime this year Ray."

"I don't know Kai… Okay? I just don't know right now…" Ray said, biting into his lower lip.

"I understand that it's a lot to consider…" Kai began, rolling up his shirt sleeves before reaching into the water. "But for the kids' sake, and my own sanity, we need to figure this out."

"I know…" Ray partially whined out. "What if you moved back here?" Ray asked. Kai looked over his shoulder, brow raised though he didn't say anything.

"Kyra will be going off to college once she's done with high school, right?" Ray continued, and Kai nodded. "Kain still has two years left, it would be unfair of us to tear him away from that and place him somewhere he's never been with people he doesn't know. If you moved here, then it would be easier on all of us."

"And what should I do about work, if I move back here then we may end up in the same situation we did years ago." Kai said, rinsing off the now clean plate and setting it on the dishrack.

"Would it really be a bad thing to let that branch go, or get someone else to oversee it permanently?" Ray asked.

Kai seemed to think it over as he washed the next plate, then shrugged his shoulders slightly. "I'll have to see what can be done."

"Really?" Ray asked, his mouth slightly open in shock.

Kai nodded. "It's something I should have done back then to be honest… I just didn't know how to go about it back then." Kai explained. "I don't think I can let it go completely but, getting someone else to do what I do there would be a step in the right direction. I can't promise that I won't need to be there for certain things, if something comes up, but it wouldn't be like last time."

"You really want this to work out?" Ray asked, brow raised.

"Of course I do, don't you?" Kai asked, turning to face Ray as he dried his hands off with a red hand towel.

"I do." Ray nodded with a smile on his lips, a fang sticking over his lower lip. "I have one more suggestion." He said, standing up from his place behind the bar and came into the center of the kitchen with Kai.

Kai watched silently as Ray made his way over to him, smirking when the neko-jin began to put his arms around his neck where he placed his hands over Ray's hips.

"What if, when you leave, you take Kain with you and Kyra stays with me for the rest of the month and April? I'll bring her back in time for her birthday and graduation." Ray asked, eyes locked with Kai's.

"That's up to her." Kai shrugged.

"She already said yes, and so did Kain." Ray answered with a sly smirk.

"That's why she packed so much then, isn't it?" Kai chuckled a bit, pulling Ray closer till their chests touched and Ray nodded. "I don't mind, I think it'll be good for all of us." Kai answered.

"You say that now." Ray laughed pulling away from his and Kai's embrace. "Kain's a handful you know."

"I think I can manage, as long as he's not like you on flights." Kai said back, humor in his tone.

"Oh no, he's pretty well off on his own…. Holds my hand every time to keep me calm." Ray laughed gently, and abruptly stopped when Kai's fingers brushed his chin.

For a second, they just looked at each other, Kai's thumb rubbing along Ray's bottom jaw gently until he leaned down and placed his lips softly against Ray's own. He wasn't sure how Ray would react but smiled into the kiss when Ray began to press himself back into Kai's body, deepening their kiss. Ray's arms went back around Kai's neck, having to lift himself on his toes to not strain his neck. Kai's arms tightened around Ray's waist, his fingers digging into Ray's shirt as he held onto him, almost as if he was afraid that if he didn't hold on tighter Ray would disappear from him.

They pulled apart after what seemed forever, breathing in heavily but still wrapped within each other's embrace. Ray's entire face lit up with a deep red blush, as Kai simply smirked at him and bent back towards him, this time kissing along and down Ray's jaw line to his neck, causing the neko-jin to inhale deeply, his fingers tugging at the darker strands of Kai's hair.

"Tell me stop… And I will…" Kai murmured against Ray's neck, before nipping the tan skin with his teeth.

"Don't… Don't you dare." Ray moaned out, holding tighter to the ends of Kai's hair as he tried to press his body closer to Kai's.

Already their bodies felt as if they were on fire, neither having felt this way since the last time they had been together. A throaty purr and moan escaping Ray's lips as Kai backed him into a counter, his hands slipping under Ray's shirt and igniting another heat wave throughout the younger male's body as his fingers traced over his spine and hips, trying to touch every part of tan skin he could find under the clothes. Their lips pressed back together in a more heated kiss, tongues fighting for dominance in Kai's mouth until they had to pull away to breathe.

"I don't think Max would like it very much if we did this on his counter top." Ray chuckled, trying to regain his normal breathing pattern.

"We don't have to." Kai said, which Ray nodded to.

"Should take it a bit slower… Sorry." Ray said, looking away slightly in shame.

"Don't be, it was my fault." Kai said, moving away to give Ray his space.

"It's alright… I'm going to take a shower and then we can tackle those papers." Ray said as he began to head for the stairs. "Want to go to dinner with me?" He asked, stopping on the first two steps.

"I'd like that." Kai smiled to him, watching as Ray smiled back to him before continuing his way up the stairs to the bathroom.

* * *

"Looks like they're having fun." Ray said, holding his cellphone across the table to show Kai the video Kain had sent of him and the others dancing at the concert they were at.

Kai nodded with a smirk on his lips, taking a drink of his whiskey. "What time are they going to be home?"

"Dunno, they'll probably get something to eat on their way back." Ray shrugged, placing his phone back on the table and went back to his own plate of food before him. "I told him to let me know when they leave though."

The two fell into a content silence as they finished their dinner, sipping at their drinks every now and then before Ray called for the bill. They left the restaurant, hand in hand with their own smiles on their lips. The ride back to Ray's was just as pleasant, Ray's hand still tightly locked within Kai's as he drove them back.

"Want to watch some TV?" Ray asked, placing his shoes on the rack by the door once they had both made it inside together.

"Sure." Kai nodded, heading to the living room while Ray went into the kitchen.

He came back with two glasses and a bottle of vodka, which Kai gave a questioning look to. "Why not, the kids aren't here yet." Ray said to the look, handing Kai a glass as he sat beside him on the couch.

"You got the good stuff." Kai said as he looked at the label on the bottle with a smirk, opening it and then pouring Ray a glass before he filled his cup.

"Was your favorite." Ray said, sipping at his drink in his hand as he curled up closer to Kai's side and turned the TV on. "Hopefully there's something good on."

It didn't matter what was on, because the moment both their glasses were empty they were both lip locked once more. Hands in hair and under clothes, tongues battling it out in one or the others mouth. Ray's back pressed into the couch as Kai leant over him, touching and kissing every inch of Ray's body he could.

Ray moaned and lifted his hips, grinding into Kai's own who met the grinding with his own, his hands now secure in Ray's hair on each side of his head massaging his scalp. A purr wracked through Ray's body, his breathing picking up speed as he pressed harder up into Kai's hips. His own hands planted on Kai's backside, pulling him down harder into himself.

"Are you alright with this?" Kai asked breathless, sitting up on Ray's waist.

"Probably not on Max's couch." Ray smirked, sitting up with Kai and kissing him once more. "The bed will be more comfortable anyways." He said once he pulled away.

Kai nodded, mind in a haze, as he pulled Ray to his feet. Turning off the forgotten TV before letting Ray lead him to his room on the second floor, the second the door was closed they were back on top of each other.

* * *

"Are you sure you're alright papa?" Kyra asked, eyeing her father as he tried to hold down his lunch as they sat on the street corner of a small café he had brought her to.

Kai, along with Kain and Dimitri had already left Japan back to Moscow the day before, and so to celebrate the departure Ray felt it best to spend as much time with his daughter that he could before they too left for Russia. It had been a pleasant visit with everyone, unlike the fiasco that was Christmas and New Year's, but the departure was just as hard as the last time Ray had to say goodbye.

Kyra's visit with Ray in Japan was cut short when Ray found out he was pregnant with his third child and feeling it right to tell Kai in person they had taken a flight to Russia together, having taken Matt with them in order to spend some time with Kain before he was to go and meet his mother for the first time in his life, something he wasn't overjoyed with doing but had no choice in the matter.

When they had arrived at Kai's home, it had come as a shock to him since for once they had at least tried to protect themselves from this happening to them again, though it had failed and there wasn't much he could do about it now. He had already made his decision long before he even knew Ray was pregnant a third time, swearing to never make the same mistake twice, he was going to be their for his children and the love of his life.

Over the course of Ray's pregnancy, he had stayed with Kai and their children in Russia in order to give birth. Matthew had been sent back in November before his birthday in order to spend time with his estranged mother, much to the dismay of himself and Kain. Kyra had graduated high school and moved out to the university in St. Petersburg with Dimitri and Sven shortly after, promising to come back for the birth of her sister.

During the summer they had celebrated her and Kain's birthdays together to save on time and resources, and it was the first time Kai had ever gotten to celebrate his son's birthday as well as Ray's first time in the past fifteen years with his daughter. It wasn't anything lavish or over the top, but it meant the world to both parents and kids.

As for the preparations for the arrival of their third child, they only bought the small essential items they would need as they were planning to move back to Japan shortly after her birth. The rest of the manor had already been packed up, aside from the few things they would need to live off of until they moved back. Kai had already purchased a new home for them, not too far from where Max and the twins lived and close enough to the Hiwatari Enterprise branch in Japan, having given up the Russian branch.

Even though the two had been through this twice before, it was like the first time all over again when Ray went into labor. The roads had been closed due to the snow storms that racked the city, leaving Kyra and Dimitri in St. Petersburg unable to make it back on time, while Ray ended up being flown by helicopter to the hospital.

It was then at 11:45 pm that his third child, and second daughter, entered the world. Kai had stayed by his side the entire time during the operation, tears in his eyes like the very first time he held his first baby girl. Even though it was too soon to tell, they could already see that she favored Ray more, which he was more than excited about.

In the recovery room, Kain was able to hold his sister, his own tears brimming in the corners of his eyes as he held her close to his chest. Ray fast asleep from the entire ordeal, while Kai coached and watched like a hawk over his children.

"She's so squishy." Kain chuckled, gently rocking his sister in his arms. "Makes me want to kind of have my own…" He muttered.

"Let's put a rain check on that." Kai said, eyeing his son with daggers.

"Pfft, I'm not that stupid." Kain laughed, handing his sister to his father. "What'd you two think of for a name?"

"Ray said something about Reina. He said I could pick the middle name." Kai answered, letting Reina take hold of his finger in her small hand.

Kain smiled at the two, quickly taking out his cellphone and snapping a quick picture of the two. "Gonna send this to Kyra." He said, after his father looked up at him, getting a nod in return.

"I don't think I ever thanked you before." Kai began to speak in a low tone.

"For what?" Kain asked, brow raised in question as he put his phone back into his back pocket.

"For getting us all together again." Kai answered.

"Oh…" Kain said, rubbing the back of his head. "No problem? Kyra helped to you know." Kai simply nodded and then locked eyes with his son once more.

"Thank you."

Kain blushed slightly, looking more uncomfortable. Neither of the two realizing that Ray had woken up and witnessed the small exchange between the two, his own smile on his lips as he silently thanked his two older children for all they had done in making them a family once more.

* * *

It hadn't been easy, with a newborn and a seventeen-year-old. Kyra gone off to college with Dimitri and Sven in St. Petersburg, though somehow they had made it work. The move had been easy, and they fell in step with each other like they had always done before.

When Reina turned one, and Kyra had come for Christmas break her and Kain were relentless on getting their fathers to finally tie the knot, arguing that it was high time the two got married after everything they had been through. It wasn't that they hadn't thought about it, or wanted to, they just couldn't find the time to do it as Ray's restaurant was finally picking up and Kai was swamped with making sure the Hiwatari branch is Russia was still functioning without him.

Because she didn't have much time, her and Kain worked relentlessly on wedding plans for their fathers and even though they appreciated the gesture it was starting to get on their nerves.

Kai had finally reached his breaking point, he couldn't take it anymore and so let the two older kids babysit their sister while he took Ray out for the day, just needing the time alone together to breathe a bit easier.

They drove past the courthouse and Ray chuckled to himself, his hand in Kai's. "You know, we could just go in there and get it over with." He half joked, but he could see the little light bulb over Kai's head flick on. "Don't, you'll only make the kids mad."

"Them? They're driving me insane!" Kai protested, finding a place to turn around on the road. "It's not like we can't do something later, when things are less hectic." He said, pulling into the parking lot to the courthouse.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Ray asked unsure as he looked at the building in front of them.

"Of course I do…" Kai said as he unhooked his seatbelt, reaching into his pants pocket and pulled out a small box and Ray's heart skipped a beat. "If you'll have me?"

"Yes… Yes of course you big dummy." Ray practically cried out as Kai popped open the little box revealing a simple gold band, taking it out and slipping it over Ray's ring finger.

"Then c'mon, lets get this over with." He said as he got out of the car, Ray was too happy to really care about the kids at this point and jumped out after him.

Hand in hand they stepped into the courthouse as boyfriends, when they came back out they were officially married and even though it was nothing like a fairy tale wedding, Ray was over the moon.

"The kids are going to kill us." He laughed as they made their way back into the car as he continued to inspect his ring. "How long have you had this anyways?"

"Since you told me you were pregnant with Reina." Kai answered, starting the car up.

"Took three kids and fifteen years apart for you to finally ask me, what a romantic." Ray joked and Kai smirked.

"You love me for it."

"Yes, yes I do." Ray said with a smile as he leaned over the center console and kissed his husband on the cheek. "Now, how about that movie?"

It felt like world war three had hit their home when Kai and Ray finally returned home the next day, Kai deciding that they should have a proper honeymoon away from the house and kids and got one of the best suites that overlooked the Tokyo cityscape. The kids weren't happy that they hadn't been involved like they had wanted to be, but eventually conceded into accepting it and being happy that now their family was officially complete.

The winter break came to a close and Kyra said her goodbyes to her family, going back to Russia to finish the semester, having two years left to go before she graduated. She came home again for her birthday and stayed until Kain's 18th birthday, which they ended up spending at Tokyo Disney, Reina enjoying it just as much as they had.

* * *

Before the twins turned eighteen and they had returned from visiting their estranged mother and her family for the first time for two years, their parents finally conceded in letting them go and join a Beyblade world tour. Hiro going as their coach, just because they were still leery on letting them travel the world alone, remembering what kind of nightmares they had all faced their first trip as a team.

Though the trip was cut short halfway through, Kain and Matt being dropped off at the front steps of the Hiwatari manor, hand in hand. Kain's four month pregnant belly showing under his shirt as he unlocked the door to his home.

When they had finally stepped into the house and faced Kain's parents it hadn't gone over well, and it only got worse when Max had come by, having only known that the tour had been cut short due to a medical emergency, though he had no idea it was something like this.

"Is it even my sons?" He asked in all seriousness, narrowing his eyes at Kain.

Said teenager paled, his face falling in disbelief and tears wanted to escape but he'd be damned if they fell. Matt's back went rigid, narrowing his own blue eyes at his father. Kyra and Dimitri's mouths fell, where Kai gripped the mug that was now empty of his coffee and Ray gave his best friend a disbelieving look.

"Excuse me?!" Ray was the first to break the silence, almost in a shriek. "Are you implying my son cheated on Matt? You can't be serious!"

"It wouldn't have been the first time!" Max shot back. "Matt shouldn't have to take responsibility for another man's mistake!"

Ray shook his head, trying to keep his temper in check but he was slowly losing that battle within himself. Everyone else just kept quiet, best to leave it to him since Kai just felt like punching the Blonde American out.

"You can't be serious Max… I know this isn't ideal, but what would make you think that of all things? Of course, it's Matts, whose else would it be?"

"I want a paternity test done." Max said, crossing his arms defiantly. "I want it done the second the baby is born."

"No." Matt stood, the legs of his chair scraping against the wood.

"You have no say in this right now young man." Max turned on his son, his blue eyes still burning with an unquenched fire.

"I believe I do since it IS my child. Seriously dad, what has gotten into you? You're sounding like the Shield Clan right now, isn't this exactly what they wanted from you? How fair is that to Kain, or me?"

Max opened his mouth again, though closed it quickly when Kyra piped up.

"It's his!" Everyone turned and looked at her. "I know because Kain's phone accidentally called me while they…" She looked around the room, hoping the men would understand what she was saying.

Ray had to suppress a chuckle, clearing his throat while Kai just shook his head and Matt blushed rather brightly. Kain still seemed to be shrunken and glued to his chair.

"I still want it done." Max huffed, glaring at everyone to see if they would protest. "C'mon Matthew, we're going home." He spun on his heel quickly.

"I think he should stay here." Kai spoke up, causing everyone to give him a questioning look.

"I'm sorry? Why?" Max asked, turning around with a frown still on his face.

"Because it's extremely stupid of you to believe the child is anyone else's than your own sons, and since it is his child he should stay here and provide for the other father of his child and said child." Kai said clearly, not bothering to look intimidating while speaking.

Ray smiled rather brightly at his husband before turning to face his friend. "I agree with him, it would be best for both boys to stick together in this. The damage is already done, and Kai and myself can't always be here if Kain were to need us in an emergency."

Max seemed to think it over, then looked to his son and sighed deeply as he saw the amount of pain and hurt on his face.

"Alright… I'll bring over the rest of your clothes… And Kain… I'm sorry." He didn't say more, just quietly stepping out of the manor leaving the others in silence.

It had been hard for the two with Matt working at the BBA full time and Kain working hard on his college courses online so he could start working at his father's company alongside Tala, even though he wouldn't be able to fully do so until his son was at least two years old. His pregnancy had gone smoothly, for which he had been more than grateful for and his son was born on July 25th, Kain having just turned nineteen.

Max had apologized to the two of them and had given them some money in order to get their own place, which they accepted and moved not too far from their families. Though having a child so young weighed down on Kain more than he wanted to admit, and he began to drink more than what he should have been. He had always had a hidden fear that he wouldn't be a good father to his children, because deep down he still felt hurt from Kai having avoided him half his life. He never wanted to end up like that, but it was slowly becoming a problem and even though Matt had threatened countless times to leave if he hadn't sobered up, Kain was able to call his bluff each time.

Eventually it got to the point that Matt took their son away, staying with his father until Kain realized that he was about to lose his family and he sought out the help that he needed, but Raiden was already nearing five years old by the time he was able to get himself and his family back together.

* * *

Kyra had decided to go a different route altogether, once she had finished college her and Dimitri married in a small ceremony with their family and friends shortly after Raiden had been born, Dimitri having proposed after the Christmas break when Kain had conceived his son.

Shortly after they had finished college they, along with Dimitri's fathers, moved back to Japan and close to everyone else. Kyra taking up the job she had longed for within her father's company, which she had over excelled in. The two enjoyed the closeness they now had to everyone once again, Sven having even moved himself and his wife right along with them. It had been a huge change for them all, but they were slowly adjusting to it all and eventually they were ready to start a family all their own, Sven already having a daughter himself. The two had been trying since September to get pregnant after Kyra had finally decided she wanted a child at the age of twenty-five. Dimitri had been ecstatic, wanting a child since he had turned twenty-two and Kyra twenty-three, but hadn't gotten Kyra to budge until this past year.

"Of course, the one time someone in this family tries to plan a pregnancy it doesn't happen. Dad and Papa have three kids unplanned, Kain and Matt go and have sex at a tournament and end up with a baby at eighteen. What do we get for trying to plan like responsible adults? Nothing." She muttered as she stepped out of the car. The two arriving at her parents home for Christmas dinner.

Dimitri chuckled as he got out and met his wife at the hood of their car, watching as she smoothed down her black dress pants. He couldn't help but stare as she looked up, her crimson orbs meeting his lavender as her eyebrow tilted up.

"What are you looking at?" She smirked.

He stepped closer to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her forward so they're hips were pressed against each other. With him now being 6'3 while she was still 5'7, he easily leaned down and pressed his lips against her forehead. "Just admiring how such a beautiful woman has been my wife for the past three years."

She shook her head with a laugh, knowing he was just doing this to make her feel better. She pushed up onto her tip-toes, kissing his lips softly. "Thank you."

Just as the two were finally relaxing, a snowball hit Kyra's shoulder, causing her to jump back from Dimitri and look up to see Kain standing at the front door of the new Hiwatari mansion.

"Hey lovebirds! Hurry the hell up and get inside! We're all hungry!" He yelled, grinning at his enraged sister.

She shook her head, crinkling her nose in annoyance. "You'd think he'd be more mature with being a father at twenty-three."

Dimitri took her hand, slowly starting to lead her inside. "Come on, we can't stall forever."

"We could try." She pouted, finally allowing herself to be led inside to meet the source of her current anxieties, their family.

A lot had changed since their blading days. Kyra held the position of Chief Operating Officer of Hiwatari Enterprises, working closely with Kai to deliver and create products, as well as market the company in a way that would appeal more to younger clientele. Dimitri had decided to move away from following in his fathers' footsteps in the Hiwatari company and had pursued a career in graphic design, creating art and logos for various companies. Kain had begun working alongside Tala in the Human Resources department of Hiwatari Enterprises. As for the twins, Matt had taken a job as coach within the BBA while Stella was a journalist for a multi-media company in America.

The dinner consisted of both Kyra and Dimitri's sets of parents, as well as Kain, Matt, their son, and Reina, who was now nine. After dinner, Kain and Matt decided to head out to go over to Max's to spend time with him and Stella while Reina went to play with her gifts in her room. This left Kyra and Dimitri with both sets of parents questioning them about their lives.

"So, how are things going for the two of you?" Tala questioned, ice blue eyes darting between the two of them.

"Good. I've been getting a lot of commissions lately which has inspired some really interesting work. We've also finally gotten everything moved into the apartment which is a bonus." Dimitri smiled, taking Kyra's hand as she sipped the red wine, she'd poured herself.

"Assuming that means you're not pregnant?" Tala frowned, motioning to the wine glass.

Kyra's expression automatically went from blank to a mixture of upset and frustrated.

"Papa, what did I tell you?" Dimitri sighed with a head shake.

"What? Is it so bad that I'm excited to have a grandchild? I mean, I thought it would've happened by now since the two of you have been trying since October." Tala went on, not noticing his daughter in-law's discomfort.

"September actually." Kyra murmured.

Ray frowned, going to sit by his daughter. Since being reunited when she was seventeen, the two had become quite close. Still not as close as her and Kai's bond, but close enough that she would allow him to comfort her.

"Sweetheart, as excited as I am for you to start a family, stressing yourself out about it isn't going to help. It will happen when it's meant to and when it does, we'll all be here to welcome them into the world." He smiled, putting his arm around her lovingly.

Kai nodded, watching the two from his spot on the loveseat. "He's right. Although I don't really think you need a child, you shouldn't be putting added stress on yourself for it to happen at a certain time. I know you like to have things planned, but this is one thing you can't always plan."

She rested her head against her Papa's shoulder, giving a smile of thanks to her Dad. "I guess so. I mean, the two of you have proved that the best things can't be planned." She joked, causing a scowl of disapproval from Kai.

"Watch it or I'm sending you home in a cab." He huffed.

* * *

That night, unbeknownst to her, she had conceived her first child and daughter, not wanting to hold out hope that she actually was she had refused to test until mid-January.

"Kyra, that's the third time you've been sick today. I think you should try taking a test." Dimitri said softly, crouching beside her and offering her the glass of water.

She accepted it, drinking slowly before shaking her head. "It's not that. It's just stress. Things have picked up at work and I've barely had time to eat most days. My body is just reacting to the change."

Sven came over, popping his head through the door frame. "Has this been happening a lot?"

"Yes. All week." Dimitri sighed, narrowing his eyes at his stubborn wife. He had been trying to convince her to take a test since the third day of her being sick, but she had refused. Now they were on the fifth day and it seemed to be getting worse instead of better.

"I'm telling you, it's just stress. I've already decided that me being pregnant isn't going to happen." She stated.

"You never know. The same thing happened for Natasha and then a couple weeks after she said she was giving up, she found out she was pregnant with Dominic. I mean, is it really going to hurt anything to take a test?" Sven asked.

"Yeah. If it's negative, then you just got my hopes up all week for nothing." She frowned, taking a seat on the side of the tub.

"But what if it's positive? Please, just take the test. For me?" Dimitri asked as he rested his arms on her thighs.

"Fine. But if it's negative, you're never going to hear the end of this."

It had been a couple of minutes, the two Russian men not hearing anything as they stood outside the bathroom waiting.

"Kyra? Is everything okay?" Dimitri called.

The door swung open, her crimson eyes filled with tears as she held up the pregnancy test in disbelief. "I-it's positive."

"What?! We're going to be parents?" Dimitri cried, his eyes welling up with tears. She nodded, causing him to wrap his arms tightly around her, cradling her head on his chest.

"I'm going to be an uncle!" Sven cheered, pulling both ex-Blitzkrieg bladers into his embrace.

The three sat around the kitchen table again, still buzzing from the news.

"So, when are you going to tell everyone? Isn't there some rule that you shouldn't say anything till after three months?" Sven asked.

"That's more up to the person. I'm not sure though. I mean, I wouldn't mind telling Papa and Dad, but Tala is a completely different story." Kyra sighed, already knowing her father in law would be obsessing over this the entire nine months of her pregnancy. He had been so insistent on having his first grandchild that she was a bit worried of how he would be once he found out.

Dimitri smirked and gave a nod. "Yeah Papa is going to lose it. I think Dad is going to be the one with the least reaction. He's never really been a baby person from what Papa has said. Even when I was a baby, he was always scared to hold me apparently."

"Well, I feel honoured to be the first to know and also to be the godfather." Sven grinned, starting to laugh when Kyra made a face at him.

"Who said you were the godfather?" She questioned.

"Me, since I know you have very few other people that you'd actually trust with your kid."

"What makes you think I'd even trust you with my kid?" Kyra smirked.

"Wow, maternal instincts kicking in already. Have fun for the next nine months, Dimitri. If it's anything like Natasha's pregnancy, you're in for a hell of a ride." He shook his head, trying to push back the memories of his pregnant wife.

"Why? I thought you said having Dominic was great?" Dimitri frowned.

"Oh, it was. The end result is great, it's just the road to get there that sucks. Constant morning sickness, her wanting the weirdest things then not eating them when I finally got them. There was one time she went from crying, to screaming at me, to overjoyed in a span of half an hour. The hormones do crazy shit, man."

"I'm sure I'll be fine. I mean, I saw Kain go through his pregnancy and he had it pretty easy. I'm sure if he can do it, I can too." She said confidently.

"Babe, he didn't even have morning sickness and you are. I wouldn't jinx yourself." Dimitri cautioned, putting a hand on his wife's shoulder.

"I'll be fine. The nine months will fly by." She assured, trying to ignore the churning in her stomach before finally giving in and running to the bathroom for the fourth time that day.

Dimitri got up, filling a glass of water again and following her as he heard Sven speak again.

"Told you, Dimka. This is just the beginning."

* * *

It had been a hard pregnancy for her, having to put work before herself and her unborn child almost constantly. When she was four months she ended up in the hospital because of pain in her abdomen, surrounded by her family she had been given strict orders to work less and eat more, if she wanted to make sure her baby would survive. She had done what the doctor had said, but that didn't stop her daughter from being born a month early. She was just happy that she had been at her parents home and that Ray had been there to help her as Dimitri became almost useless as she went into labor in the middle of the night.

Their daughter Natalia Rose Ivanov had been born on August 19th, Ray had been there beside his daughter through it all and he hadn't been more proud of her. Everyone had beamed with excitement to know that mother and baby had done well and were doing well, and even though Tala was ready for another grandchild Kyra had decided that one was enough for her, not ever wanting to endure pregnancy again.

Though her plans had changed three years later when she, along with Kain, had conceived on their birthday cruise. This time it had been reversed, Kain had been wanting another child, though he hadn't been expecting to get pregnant with twins, while Kyra's was a surprise to her since she hadn't really been trying.

Kain felt that it was an exciting thing, to have been pregnant alongside his sister, though it was really the last thing she had wanted to ever do, but Dimitri's excitement was enough for her in order to go through with it.

This time she had been at her own home when she went into labor a day before Kain, though he had been in and out before she had even had her son, while he was already holding his two new little boys; Mason and Kail. Like before Ray had been there with her when her son, Nicolai, had been born and this time on the due date that had been given.

* * *

"I'm done, I don't want to do this again." She groaned out, holding her three-hour old boy in her arms, her three-year-old daughter sleeping in Dimitri's arms.

To her dismay, she and Kain had been given a shared recovery room, though it was easier for everyone else instead of having to run back and forth from one room to the other.

"Really? C'mon, it's not that bad." Kain said from his bed, helping Raiden to hold his brother Mason, at least they thought it was him since the twins were identical.

"Says you, how do you get all the luck with easy pregnancies? It's not fair." She whined out at him, her crimson eyes narrowing at him.

"I agree, it's not fair at all." Ray said, holding the other twin in his arms at the foot of Kain's bed.

"Just lucky I guess." Kain shrugged. "Wouldn't mind one more though." He said, giving his husband a cheeky grin. The two having finally gotten married not even a month before their sons were born, much to the excitement of their parents.

"How many do you need?" Kyra laughed out.

"I want a girl." Kain protested with a pout. "Besides, I want my kids to have a big family like what we had." He said while gesturing to Matt.

"Fair enough." Kyra said as she nodded in understanding.

* * *

A year later Kain's wish had been granted and he had a daughter, Mei Ann Hiwatari, using his sisters and Stella's middle names. His family was complete, all around and even though it had been hard, almost unbearable at times, he was happy and content with how his life had turned out. Never would he have thought that he would have become a parent so young, make the same mistakes his parents had made, but that hadn't stopped him from trying to make things right.

Kai had understood completely where he was coming from, and he was more than proud of seeing his older children doing well with their own families, still forever grateful for all they had done for them. Of course, if he could have, he would have gone back much sooner, avoided the heart ache he had inflicted upon his family, but in the end he had them now and that was all that mattered.

Every birthday, every major holiday, he was surrounded by his family and friends, and even though the manor was packed to the brim, he wouldn't have had it any other way.

Taking Ray's hand and leading him out to the back porch for some much-needed air, he wrapped his arms around his husbands shoulders as he stood behind him, watching the snow as it gently fell to the ground covering their backyard; leaving the hustle and bustle of their very large and extended family inside the manor after finishing the large Christmas feast Ray, Tala, and Kain had prepared.

Ray purred contently for him, his body vibrating against him and Kai tightened his embrace around him. Warm enough between their shared body heat they held each other for as long as they could, reveling in their happiness together.


End file.
